Blackout
by Rurouni Tyriel
Summary: (COMPLETED) All is happy at Titan’s Tower, as the resident heroes of Jump City prepare to celebrate the the Holidays. However, during their latest skirmish with a super villain, Robin is knocked out cold by a blow to the head.
1. I

**Disclaimer:**

I don't own the Teen Titans, though I wish I did. Or maybe just Starfire. She can give me a bath any time she wants.

**Summary:**

Christmas Eve. All is happy at Titan's Tower, as the resident heroes of Jump City prepare to celebrate the human festival of gift-giving. The decorations are hung, the tree is up, and then the alarm goes off and they're called to action. However, during their latest skirmish with a super villain, the Titans suffer a horrible blow to both their ranks and their morale as Robin is knocked out cold by a blow to the head. And it gets worse, for when he awakens... he has no memory of who he is or what he is. Or who his friends are. Can the Titans restore Robin's lost memories? Can Starfire reminds Robin of who he is? If not it is going to be a very, very sad Christmas at Titan's Tower. Takes place after the events of 'Can I Keep Him?' and prior to 'Bunny Raven.' Rated PG-13 just to be on the safe side, for some action violence and angst, followed by sappy romance so sweet it'll make your teeth ache.

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"'tis the season to be jolly!... fa-la-la-la-la... la-la... mmpph!"

Raven smirked, her face carefully hidden behind her book as Beastboy's caroling had... finally... at long last... come to an end. Due, of course, to the fact that he'd just had a wreath levitated from its position over the doorway and wedged right into his open mouth. And although she did not bother to tilt her head and look up over the tome in her hands, she could well imagine right now how comical he'd look, still holding ornaments in his hands with a great pine wreath sticking out of his mouth.

"Ptooowey!"

Beastboy spat the offensive object from his mouth, immediately sticking out his abnormally large tongue and scraping off the bits of pine still stuck there, dropping his ornaments in the process onto the ground beside the tree. Fortunately, not many of them were very fragile, and none broke.

"Raven, what was that for?!" he asked indignantly, once he'd spat out the last of the pine needles.

"You sing off-key," she replied, her expression deadpan, her eyes not leaving the next line of text in her tome. Beastboy grunted non-commitedly, but refrained from continuing his caroling (he could always do more later) and went back to helping Starfire hang ornaments up on the enormous pine tree they'd brought in earlier in the month to decorate the living room. And indeed, much of the Tower was also decorated. Wreaths, tinsel, decorations of all manner hung from every wall and window. Even, despite Raven's attempts to destroy them all, a mistletoe here and there, carefully arranged by the mischievous Beastboy in full view of the security cameras.

For blackmail, of course.

All in all, it was a typical Christmas at Titan's Tower.

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A soft slam from downstairs instantly alerted the Titans of the return of their other two members long before Cyborg's voice reached them way up in the control room. "We're back ya'll! And we come bearin' gifts!"

"Glorious!" cried out Starfire, abandoning her decorating to zip down the corridor towards the front doors, where Cyborg and Robin were struggling to carry a number of carefully gift-wrapped packages of myriad colors and patterns, all wrapped in shiny bows.

"Are you needing assistance?" she asked, hovering alongside Robin, who seemed to be struggling with the awkward size of his gifts (not heavy, just difficult to hold in his arms)... marked for Cyborg and Beastboy. She quelled a sudden surge of disappointment, realizing that Robin must've found her a present already and hidden or it that it was still back in the car.

"Nah I'm fine Star... but thanks for the offer. How's the tree looking?" he asked.

"Oh it most beautiful!" she said, her eyes shining like Christmas lights as she floated alongside Robin and Cyborg, getting on the elevator and riding up towards the main floor. "Everything is so wondrously beautiful, just like Blorthog. I am enjoying this Human Festival of X-Mas."

"Christmas," he replied without thinking. Over the years, it'd become habit for him to correct her English mistakes, and she welcomed them. Now they scarcely had to think about it.

"Yes, of course... Christmas."

"Well should be a good one," comment Cyborg from the sidelines. "You gonna love what I gotcha girl," he said, thumping one of the gifts carried in his mechanical hands. Starfire floated up, craning her head just before it hit the ceiling, and peered down. Indeed, there on the side of the box. From: Cyborg, To: Starfire.

"What did you get me, friend Cyborg?" she asked, holding her hands before her in eager anticipation.

He smirked at that. "Oh come on now, you know I can't tell you Star... spoil the surprise."

"You are... keeping secrets from me?" she asked. She didn't like secrets.

"Not a secret Star," said Robin, jumping into the conversation to protect Starfire's feelings. He knew how she felt about secrets. His own fault, really. "It's a surprise, not a secret."

"Oh... alright then."

The elevator made a soft ding as it came to a stop, and Starfire swooped out into the living room, followed by the two boys. The situation was much as she'd left it. Raven was still sitting in the corner by a roaring fireplace (lit, though since the Tower was fully heated it was for effect really) and Beastboy was climbing up the Christmas tree in the form of a monkey, holding the star for its top by his tail. He placed it atop with a flourish, giving a low bow to his sudden audience as he reverted to his humanoid form. Starfire applauded him.

"Thank you, thank you my adoring public... please, no autographs," he said as he leapt down gracefully onto the floor and making his way into the small kitchen. "I have to go and check on my tofu turkey."

"Please tell me that's not what we're eating," stage-whispered Cyborg to Robin as they placed their gifts on the ground beneath the tree, arranging them in small piles for each individual Titan.

"Don't worry, I got us a real bird, its cooking downstairs in the lab. I had an oven set up there a few days ago," replied Robin, equally soft. Beastboy frowned over at both of them but said nothing, he knew he couldn't bring them around to his way of thinking. But he'd be darned if he was gonna eat a poor, defenseless bird. Still, at least the rest of his culinary skills hadn't gone to waste. Mostly the dicing up of vegetables to add to the meal and the preparing of the table to be used. Titan meals were informal, since they had to be on the go so often. But he'd taken it upon himself to set up a long table down in one of the spare rooms and arrange for the best meal they'd have since... well Thanksgiving really. But that was beside the point.

Good time of year. Even Raven was smiling a bit more than usual. Even she couldn't help but be affected by the happy feelings of the season, even if she did think of it as an overly commercialized event designed to help toy and gift companies make a ton of cash and ruin any emotional attachment.

Still...

... when no one was looking, Raven dared peek up over the rim of her book, just to make sure all eyes were elsewhere. Cyborg was out of the room, Starfire and Robin were admiring the view by one of the windows (covered in cut-out snowflakes made by Starfire and Beastboy) and the green boy had his back to the room, whistling as he worked on his beloved tofu. Certain that no one was watching, Raven lifted one hand towards the Christmas tree and made a quick, somatic gesture. Instantly a dark void filled up underneath the trees and the gifts there. However, instead of swallowing them up, that was the end point of her miniature portal, and from the ground rose four small, hand wrapped gifts she'd worked on herself. One for each of the friends... no... the family in her life.

That done, she turned back to her book, prepared to deny everything if they asked if she'd gotten them.

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The idyllic peace shattered suddenly.

A blaring alarm sounded throughout Titan's Tower, 'causing each teen girl and boy to lift their heads as the red warning lights flashed, overpowering the tinier glow of red and green Christmas lights. In seconds the Titans were assembled by the computer, as Robin sat down and inspected the nature of the alert.

"Overload," announced Robin, staring at the screen as data flew past. "He's at the power plant, the main power core of the city. Police are already there but they're not having much luck."

"Dude! The mayor said we had time off for the holidays! Now my tofu's gonna burn!" Beastboy complained half-heartedly.

"We still have to stop Overload," said Robin, who stood up then, turning to regard the Titans. They nodded grimly, even Beastboy, serious again. An unseen breeze made Robin's cape flap behind him.

"Titans... go?" asked Raven sarcastically.

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"Overload!"

The great monster turned, sparks crackling around his enormous frame as he turned to the entrance of the power planet, beholding the five troublesome teens standing in the entry way. He shouldn't have been surprised, but he was. He'd been hoping they wouldn't be around, that they'd be busy with other matters. Still, no matter.

"We're shutting you down," intoned Robin, holding out his hand and then pointing his thumb down in the manner of the ancient Roman spectators.

"Overload not going to shut down," replied their opponent, drawing himself up to his full (and rather impressive) height. He was easily twice the size of Cyborg, after all. "Overload will shut YOU DOWN!!" he roared. Then, suddenly, he lashed out with one of his arms, which stretched and distorted like a great energy whip, aiming for the Titans.

"Titans, Go!" shouted Robin, and they scattered instantly to dodge the energy whip. Robin launched himself high up into the air, sliding out the retractable bo staff from its secure spot behind his back and sliding it out to full length as he leapt at Overload, whacking the computerized menace right between... well, alright, right on his computer chip eye as he soared over his head.

Overload roared and turned to lash out at the Boy Wonder but a sonic blast to his shoulder diverted his attention to Cyborg, who stood ready and launched a second blast from his sonic cannon, this time aiming for Overload's midsection and knocking the great behemoth back a few steps.

"Beastboy! Raven! Find water!" shouted Robin and he reached into his utility belt and withdrew some exploding disks. Overload, enraged, none-the-less managed to contain enough of his senses to realize that if he kept jumping from one Titan to another he'd never be rid of them all, and so he focused on Robin, determined to bring down their leader first. Roaring, the mechanized monster charged on Robin, who bravely stood his ground, holding up the three exploding disks between his fingers. Waiting... waiting for just the right instant... there!

Robin leapt backwards as Overload's fist slammed into the ground where he'd been standing, allowing in mid-flip for Starfire to zoom in underneath him and slam one of her starbolts right into the monster's face. Completing his flip and landing gracefully on the ground Robin followed up her attack with his exploding disks, sending Overload flying through the air to crash into the wall, which promptly collapsed on him.

Little sparks flew from the granite chunks as Cyborg, Starfire and Robin cautiously approached it, peering down to try and find their enemy.

"Did we get him?" asked Starfire curiously, allowing the glowing emerald energy to fade between her fingertips as she hovered overhead. Below, Cyborg and Robin weren't nearly as optimistic, and kept their weapons armed and aimed just in case as they cautiously moved closer. Cyborg nudged one of the granite chunks with his foot.

All at once Overload came back to life, exploding out of the rocks and batting aside both Robin and Cyborg as if they were dolls, letting both of them fly through the air. Cyborg, much heavier, slammed onto the ground and skidded for a fair distance before slamming into a generator, while Robin, much lighter, flew right over the generator in question and flew out one of the windows head-first. They could not see where he landed.

Starfire gasped in shock at the sudden attack, but her fear was quickly replaced by anger as she saw her friends being hurt, and she zoomed down at Overload with the speed and power of a cannonball, slamming him in the midsection again and again with her tiny yet powerful fists. "You mean stupid klorbag...!" she cursed at him heartily in English and Tamaranian, until Overload caught her in his great hands and held her up, no doubt preparing to do something horrible to her. Crush her or throw her or electrocute her or any number of gruesome fates.

Fortunately, he didn't get the chance.

Just as Overload was about to take action a sudden torrent of water splashed full force into him, short-circuiting the electronic villain and causing him to drop Starfire in surprise (fortunate for her, otherwise she'd likely have been electrocuted as well) and howl in pain. A green pterodactyl swooped in quickly to grab Starfire's shoulders and keep her from falling into the water (and electrocution) as Raven continued to hold up the pipe she'd just torn from the ground, aiming it at Overload to continue dousing the shocking villain. Finally, however, it had ended, and the single smoking red chip with its beady red eye was all that remained of Overload, the rest having dissipated in the water. Raven made a gesture with her hand, sealing off the pipe before it flooded the room, and floated over to join the other Titans as they peered down at the defeated Overload.

"Well that was fun," remarked Raven.

"Squad cars always on its way here," said Cyborg, trudging over to join the others. He was shook up but undamaged, it took a lot more than that to slow him down. "Our job's done here," he said.

"Wait," said Starfire. "Where is Robin?"

It suddenly dawned on them. He hadn't yet come back from his unexpected flight through the window. They'd simply assumed he would have returned by now, he was incredibly resourceful and it usually took a lot to bring him down. But still, he was only human... what if something had happened? Raven, Beastboy and Cyborg headed to the exit underneath the window to look for their fallen comrade, but an orange and violet blur shot past them, as Starfire went to find her fallen friend.

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"Robin...? Robin...? Robin...?"

"Yo, Robin?!"

"Dude, where are you?!"

As a team, the Titans began searching for their fallen leader Robin, who had not been seen since the villainous Overload had so casually batted him out a solid glass window and out of the power plant. A power plant that oh-so-conveniently was located on a cliffside, overlooking the beautiful bay of Jump City. Further out, they could even see the lights of Titan's Tower. But right now they were busy searching for Robin.

"Robin…?!" called out Starfire, frantically flying overhead, searching for signs of a red, yellow and green costume, for signs of dark black locks of hair, for a black mask. For anything that would tell her where Robin was. She wanted to know he was okay. But of course he had to be okay. Because if he wasn't...

... she didn't even want to contemplate that possibility.

"Found him!" rang out Raven's voice, the first she'd spoken since the search had began. Instantly the other Titans converged on her, Starfire zipping past Cyborg and Beastboy to see Robin. However, upon spotting him, she gave an involuntary gasp.

Robin lay amongst the rocks on the cliff side, unconscious. He did not appear badly hurt, his body was for the most part unmarked, but there was a steady trickle of red blood coming from his scalp. Obviously he'd hit his head on the way down. Or possibly the glass had done that to him. It was hard to tell. It looked like he'd bounce quite a bit before he'd actually come to a stop where he was now. Raven peered down at him curiously, taking in his injuries before she attempted any healing. Starfire hovered anxiously overhead, waiting for Raven to heal Robin and for him to be alright and for everything to be well.

"He's not too badly hurt, just unconscious," said Raven, laying a pale hand on Robin's forehead and using her spells to heal his injury. A silvery-blue glow engulfed her hand as she began to work her magic. "He should be fine," she added after a moment's hesitation. "Starfire? Can you go assist the Special Forces Unit and make sure they've got Overload safely in hand?"

"I, oh uhm... yes I suppose so," she said, very reluctant to leave Robin's side. But Raven had said everything would be fine, so with little hesitation she lifted herself up into the air and back towards the power plant's front, where the Special Forces were loaded a sealed box (containing Overload's CPU) into the back of one of their armored trucks.

She hoped Robin would be awake soon. He'd be glad they'd captured Overload.

"We have a problem," whispered Raven quietly, deliberately low enough so that only Cyborg and Beastboy could hear her. Sending Starfire away helped but the Tamaranian had very sensitive ears. She still might overhead them if she wasn't careful. And that would lead to even more problems.

"What's wrong?" asked Cyborg.

"Something is... abnormal... with Robin's brainwaves. I can sense them. They're somewhat... erratic. I think the blow to his head might've shook up his brain a little."

"Well that's certainly wonderful news," said Beastboy sarcastically.

Cyborg nodded in agreement, reaching down to pick up Robin gently. "We should get him back to Titan's Tower. We'll see if there's anything wrong once the medical bay is up and running."

"Agreed. You two go ahead," said Raven. "I'll talk with Starfire."

"See you th-..." Cyborg started to reply, but something interrupted him.

Namely, the lights.

Street lights, traffic lights, indoors lights, outdoor lights. Christmas lights. In Jump City during most times of the year, the city was ablaze with lights at night, easily as bright as Metropolis or Central City. And of course during the holidays, it was even more brilliant, shining in a myriad of white, reds and green flashing lights, plus a myriad of others.

But now... they all went out, plunging the city into darkness.

"... -ere," finished Cyborg, "Awww damnit." Without thinking he activated his internal flashlight, allowing it to flip up on his left shoulder and illuminate Raven and Beastboy. "Blackout."

"Overload must've overloaded one of the generators before we arrived," surmised Raven. "And with the damage the fight caused..."

"Could be a while before they get it back up again," finished Cyborg.

"Great, oh this is just wonderful, this is just stupendous!" said Beastboy, speaking to no one in particular, ranting and raving in the manner he often did. "Anything else you want to throw at us while you're at it?!" he shouted up at the sky. "Any other way you wanna ruin Christmas?!"

A sudden roar of thunder answered his question, and Beastboy gave a soft 'eep' as lightning lit up the sky briefly. Following that, of course, came the rain. In seconds, the Titans, including Starfire who'd returned to join them, were all soaked.

"Had to ask, didn't you?" muttered Raven sarcastically, allowing her black energy to form around her in the shape of a raven, shielding her from the worst of the rain.

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**Author's Notes:**

Awww, isn't it sweet? Holiday cheer up at Titan's Tower. And of course Beastboy with his tofu turkey. Things will start off sweet but they're going to get decidedly darker later on. Like my last December Holiday story, few villains (just one, Overload, really) and primarily romantic coupling. This year's victims: Robin and Starfire. The actual contents of the Titan's gifts to one another will also be kept secret until the very end, feel free to guess, I do so love guesses. Starfire's dislike of keeping secrets I got from 'Can I Keep Him?' and I presume was in reference to events from 'Masks.' At least that's my theory, and I'll explain why later. Overload of course we all remember from 'Car Trouble' and 'Aftershock I and II.' Since we've seen Cinderblock is back to normal in 'Haunted' we can presume Overload is back to normal as well. Next time we take the angst factor and we kick it up a notch. Bam!


	2. II

Pain.

Throbbing, horrible pain seemed a part of him, as much a part of his head as the skull contained therein, and it all hurt abysmally, making him give an involuntary groan as he shifted slightly.

A soft hand pressed against his chest, pushing him back down. "Easy," said its owner. A girl's voice. "You got hurt. Just relax, you should be fine in a moment."

He groaned in reply, the aching of his head not stopping. However, it seemed to dim a little with her statement. Slowly, reluctantly, he opened his eyes, peering up at the ceiling. Then soft and steady beep... beep... beep... of a machine nearby caught his attention, but he couldn't see the source. Nor could he see much of anything but the ceiling and the dim fluorescent lights above. The walls were a uniform gray and black, with a strange pattern along it that he didn't recognize. The room was rather dark, the shadows seemed to fill it rather thickly.

"Oh wonderful, you are awake... you are alright?" asked a voice, another one. Another girl's voice. The speaker entered his line of vision as he sat up slightly.

It was a young girl, probably in her mid- to late-teens, with deeply tanned, golden tinted skin and long, flowing crimson hair. Her eyes were bright, open wide with wonder and... as she approached him... joy. They were a most remarkable green on green, no whites like a human's eye. She was dressed in a bright violet halter-top, short skirt, and boots, all of which looked strange to him. Strange and... alien.

She looked incredibly familiar but... he didn't know who she was.

"You are feeling better now?" she asked with a wide smile.

"I... I don't know," he replied. His head did still hurt like hell, after all. Without thinking he pressed a hand against his forehead to try and relieve the pain a little. It didn't work. "What... what happened?" he asked softly, more to himself than her.

"Overload tossed you out a window," said the first voice, making him whirl his head around suddenly to peer at the other speaker. It was another girl, young like the first, with pale skin and violet hair. A great blue cloaked was wrapped around her shoulders an obscured any other details about her, though she seemed rather on the slender side. "You hit your head. Tell me, are you feeling better?" she asked, her voice, though close to a monotone and whisper, hinted of some concern.

"I... I'm not sure... I don't remember... I..." he stopped talked then, his eyes suddenly going wide. As did the pale girl's. She knew even before he spoke it, she could sense his surface thoughts as easily as if he'd spoken aloud.

"What -do- you remember?" she asked softly. "Do you remember... who we are?" she asked after she saw him hesitate. She kept her eyes on him, mostly because she didn't want to see the red-headed girl's reaction to the question. She visibly flinched.

"No," he replied slowly. "Who are you... and..."

He paused, turning again, looking at the other girl. The alien girl with emerald eyes. Eyes that now seemed to be shimmering with unshed tears. Lightning crackled from outside the window, illuminating the room briefly and making them very visible.

"... who am I?"

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"Amnesia," concluded Raven, turning away from the computers. The medical bay was still dark, and currently they were using candles to keep it illuminated, but they'd managed to get back-up power on-line so they could work with the more important computer systems.

"I could've told you that," said Beastboy, lounging on the windowsill casually, though he was still very upset, and his pointed ears drooped a little. "The question is how do we fix it?"

Raven growled darkly, the sound echoing in the medical bay as she turned to regard Beastboy. Her eyes... all four of them... were glowing bright red underneath her hood. "If you feel you know how to do this better..."

"Oh, uhm... right, right..." said Beastboy, laughing nervously as he edged towards the sliding door and away from Raven, who'd invited Anger to join them. "Oh... uhm, did you hear that?" he asked, placing a hand to his ear as if he'd heard a sound. "Sounded like an alert. I'll just... uh... go check it out you know. Beastboy, Go!" he shouted dramatically, then wasted no time in transforming into a cheetah and bolting down the corridor as far away from Raven as possible.

Raven meanwhile, took in a deep breath through her nose and exhaled out her mouth, calming her racing heart and pushing Anger back into the cage of her mind. She'd served her purpose. That done, she turned back to the others, whom she'd really been addressing when Beastboy had interrupted.

Cyborg, however, was also on the verge of escaping the room, and not necessarily through the door either. However, upon seeing Raven's normal, violet eyes were back, he relaxed marginally. "Sounds bad," said Cyborg, glancing over at the leader of the Teen Titans. Robin was sitting on the far medical bed, curled up into a ball like a little kid, shivering fearfully. He didn't understand anything that was going on, and didn't recognize or remember any of the Titans. Hell, he didn't even know who he himself was. Not Robin, not even whoever was under that mask. None of it. Not exactly the best way to wake up.

However, Raven had quickly discovered there -was- one thing he recognized before Beastboy and Cyborg had rejoined them (they'd been busy setting up the Tower's self-contained generator so they could continue to function even though Jump City was suffering a blackout). Robin still recognized Starfire, even though he didn't know who she was. Thus, Raven had encouraged her to keep close. She hovered beside Robin, ready to assist in any way possible, though she was just as much confused as Robin himself.

"Everything is... so strange..." said Robin. No doubt referring to what had just passed between Raven and Beastboy. Raven grimaced. He was right. Releasing Anger hadn't been the best of decisions at the time. They needed to keep from frightening Robin further. Not the easiest task when none of them were completely human any longer. They were too used to weirdness.

"Robin, do you recall anything at all?" she asked patiently. "Any memories?"

"Not really," he replied, scrunching up his face in concentration. "I... wait... wait I remember something. It's... it's a circus. I remember, I was a little kid..."

Raven pressed her lips tightly together in a frown, but didn't stop him. Not yet.

"... I can see the performers... they're working on the trapeze act. I can see them. They're doing so well. And then..." Robin's eyes opened wide behind his mask. "... and then... oh god..."

Raven snapped her fingers.

Instantly Robin's eyes were on her again, as were the other occupants of the room. Robin was shaking. She couldn't blame him. Not all his memories were pleasant. But still, you had to take the good with the bad. She said as much, explaining the situation as best she was able. While not a psychologist, her inborn talents at telepathy allowed her a great deal of understanding on how the human mind worked, and sometimes even the non-human mind. She'd seen into Robin's head before and knew all about what had happened to him. Though for his sake she'd kept her lips shut about it. It was his demon to battle, not hers. She had enough of her own.

"This is actually a good sign," she said, finishing her diagnosis.

"It is?" asked Robin, still shivering. Without thinking, his hand instinctively dropped down to his waist, fingers flexing as if expecting to find something there. And then suddenly they wrapped around something. Robin glanced up. Starfire had taken his gloved hand in hers, and given a comforting squeeze. She didn't really smile down at him, but she gave a nod. It spoke volumes to him. _I'm here for you_, she seemed to be saying.

The gesture didn't go unnoticed by Raven either. "Your memories are still present," she elaborated for them. "They're simply... blocked by the damage. But they're still there, at least. We simply need to find a way to recover them."

"You make it all sound easy," said Cyborg, giving her a hearty slap on the back. One which nearly sent Raven sprawling.

"I wish it were," replied Raven in her monotone voice, smoothing out her cloak. "Still, there's no reason to give up hope yet. For the moment, Cyborg and I can do some research, see what we can find... Starfire?"

"Yes?" asked the Tamaranian girl, looking up in surprise.

"Robin will need some guidance, but being here might not be best for him. He needs to be around familiar settings to improve the chances of more memories surfacing. You should assist him with this. You know Robin better than most of us here. You can assist him," she said. Raven did not add that Starfire was also more likely to be the most comforting individual around in case Robin happened to come across a bad memory. "Maybe start with his room. It should help."

"Of course," said Starfire. She walked over towards the door (flying seemed to distress Robin a little) and glanced back over at Robin. He didn't seem himself at all as he timidly followed after her. The old Robin, her Robin, had been brimming with confidence in every step, to the point where some might even call him arrogant. And he was usually always smiling in the Tower, among his friends. This new Robin was so much... quieter. Shyer. To Starfire it was like a stranger was wearing Robin's face as a mask, and it chilled her to her soul.

But she hid her own feelings deep down inside of her, put on a happy smile, and walked down the corridor just a little ahead of Robin, guiding him towards his room. He'd taken it upon himself to show her Earth life and Earth customs before, now it was her turn to show him who he really was. So she grabbed one of the many candles illuminating the medical bay and held it in her hand to guide them both as they made their way out of the room and down the corridor towards Robin's.

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"This is my room?" he asked.

Robin's inner sanctuary was a dark and dreary place, and utterly functional. No posters decorated his walls, no clothes lay strewn about on the floor in the manner of normal teenage boys. Everything was in its place, his bed was neatly made, his clothes folded and away in the dresser by the far wall. The windows were shuttered, and only the overhead light provided any illumination under normal circumstances. Right now, the feeble candle in Starfire's hand did little other than show more shadows. And all it really did illuminate was a number of newspaper clipping Robin had never before taken down from the walls.

_Titan's repel attack on Titan's Tower, cite Slade as mastermind behind the attack._

_Slade's name connected to prison break._

_Informants say they were paid by Slade._

_Fire elemental destroyed by the Titans, believed to be the work of Slade._

_Investigation undergoing to determine the true identity of Slade._

_Slade involved in theft of rare computer chips._

"Does any of it look familiar to you?" asked Starfire quietly, standing in the doorway, her hands clasped before her. She knew the layout of Robin's room, she'd been invited into it often to chat with him. But now, she sensed he might want to be alone. At the same time, she didn't want to just leave him. Not yet.

"No... not really..." he replied reluctantly, eyeing the newspaper clippings. Two names seemed to keep coming up. "What're these Titans? And who is... Slade?" he asked. Though even as he spoke that word, a chill ran down his spine. Instinctively, he recognized the name, even if he had no memories of who it was.

Apparently, Starfire recognized it as well. She'd flinched. "Slade was... a very bad man," she said reluctantly. "He was..." she started to say, then hesitated. What to call him? Psychopath? Monster? Robin's Master? Terra's murderer? "A criminal," she finally settled on.

"Looks like I knew a lot about him," said Robin, eyeing one of the newspaper clippings. "Or... or I wanted to."

Starfire's mouth opened... then snapped shut immediately. She couldn't say such things to Robin. Not now. He wouldn't be able to understand, wouldn't be able to deal with it. It might hurt him more. But still, she didn't like keeping secrets. And she liked lying even less.

"You wished to understand your enemy, so you could battle him better," she finally replied with a nod of her head.

He nodded dimly, still unsure of everything. So very unlike the Robin she knew and cared for. Sensing his unease, she turned to depart. "I'll... I'll leave you alone for now," she said, starting to head down the hallway.

"... wait..."

Her head snapped up by his quiet request, and she poked her head back into the room. He was sitting on the edge of his simple bed, his feet dangling, and he looked at her with wide-eyed fear. Not of her, but of everything else around him. This too, was unlike the Robin she knew, who so bravely stood up to Slade, who so valiantly saved her from the likes of Cinderblock and Plasmus. "Please don't leave me," he whispered.

She nodded, stepping into the room fully and gently sliding shut the doors behind her (the automated system was off-line, of course). She made her way over to the bed, sitting down beside him and placing the candle on the dresser beside them. "Of course not," she said. "I'll help you recover your memories."

"Thank you," he replied. His hand dropped down to his side again, and Starfire held it in hers, squeezing it softly to try and comfort him.

He gasped suddenly, and she jerked her hand back as if she'd stuck it in acid. "Did I do wrong?"

"No, no... wait... I... I remember something," he said. Cautiously, he extended his hand again, taking hers in it, and closed his eyes, allowing the memory to come back to him. "I... I can see you. And those others... the ones I met before. And... I see all these... these horrible monsters," he said, opening his eyes and jerking his hand away from hers this time. She looked on sympathetically. "What were they?"

"What did they look like?" she asked quietly.

"These big... bugs. Cockroaches, kinda, but standing on two legs..."

"... with four arms and mandibles and bug-eyes," she finished for him.

"Yeah... how did..."

"Zornians," she said. Then she smiled, realizing what it meant. "I believe that is a memory of when we first met."

"Can you tell me more about it?" Robin asked her gently. Almost pleadingly. She nodded.

"We met when the Zornians attacked Earth," she said, sticking to the simpler version of their history. "You had tried to stop them yourself, but you weren't able to. Nor was Raven, our friend. So she called together you and I and the other Titans to battle the Zornians and make them leave Earth alone."

"I fought them?" he asked.

"Remarkably well. You even defeated their leader," she said proudly.

Robin frowned, looking back... -willing- himself to look back, to pierce through the fog in his head and find his memories. He still saw glimpses of the monsters... the Zornians... and now he saw other images. The pale girl, the green boy, the mechanical man. Fighting the monsters. And there was one image in particular that came through most clearly. He saw one of the Zornians advance on -him-, armed with a great broke pipe and wielding it like a spear, intend to run him through. And then he saw a bright bolt of green energy knock the beast aside, and then he saw...

"... Starfire," he murmured softly. Then, louder, he asked "You saved my life, didn't you?"

She nodded wordlessly. She dare not interrupt the solemn nature of the moment. Perhaps her Robin had finally uncovered a way to retrieve his lost memories. Perhaps he would remember everything, and all would be well again.

"Thank you," he said.

She released a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding, and nodded again. "I would never want to see you hurt so, Robin."

He sighed, smiling ruefully. "I wish I could remember more. You seem like a nice person. I... I dunno I just feel bad I can't really remember anything about you."

"It is not your fault," she replied. "It is the fault of that son of a ke'vorian mush-splavk Overload..."

"What?" he backed up from her in surprise. "What're you saying?"

"Oh... I am sorry, I often slip into Tamaranian when I am angry... hehe," she said, rubbing the back of her head in embarrassment.

"Tamaranian..." he repeated quietly, obviously not recognizing the word.

"The language of my home world, Tamaran," she replied. Then, more morosely "You do not remember Tamaran either, do you?"

"I've been to another world?" he said in surprise.

"Ooh!"

"What?"

Starfire didn't reply, as she practically leapt off his bed and zoomed over to Robin's dresser, pulling open the drawers and rummaging around inside, searching for something. As she did, she absent-mindedly tossed a number of Robin's spare uniforms onto the floor, messing up everything. But from within his drawer a muffled shriek of joy was uttered, and when Starfire re-emerged, she held the object of her quest in hand, holding it up high.

A photo album.

"Please forgive me Robin but I happened to know you had this here. I am sorry if you wished it to be private but I believe it can be of great use to you now."

"What is it?" he asked, scooting over slightly on the bed as she sat down, peering over her shoulder at the photo album in her hands. Embossed on the front was the word 'Memories.' Ironic, actually. Starfire, without hesitation, opened it up, flipping through a few pages towards the end of the book. She spoke as she continued to look for the page in question.

"You took these pictures a long while ago, starting shortly after Titan's Tower was built," she said, still searching for her particular destination. "I believe you received aid from Cyborg's camera-eye to assist you in taking some of these more difficult shots."

"He has a camera in there?" asked Robin, half to himself. Wow, if that wasn't weird he didn't know what was.

"Ah, here it is," said Starfire, pointing at the page in question. Amongst the myriad pictures contained therein, a roll of tape had been laid and the words 'Trip to Tamaran' had been written in pen. They showed images of the world Starfire had told him of, as well as its people. "Does any of this look familiar?" asked Starfire hopefully.

"Well, you do of course," he said, pointing at her picture. "But who is that beside you?" he asked with a frown. He suddenly had an intense surge of anger and... jealousy? Why would he be jealous, when he did not even know who or what that person was? Was it another memory of sorts?

Starfire winced, feeling a sense of nausea as she beheld the photographic image of Gigrrisklechhh, her false betrothed whom she'd nearly made the mistake of marrying so very long ago. "It is... not important," said Starfire, turning over the page. She smiled as she saw the new image. It was her and Robin just before they'd decided to depart Tamaran together, after she'd given away the title of Empress and placed Galifore in charge of her world and her people. "This is much better, yes?"

"Much better," he agreed, absent-mindedly tracing the image of Starfire beneath his finger. "Wow... you look beautiful..."

She blushed at that, stammering a denial, but she couldn't fully voice it. Her old Robin had never called her beautiful before, either. Not that he'd called her ugly, of course, he'd just never voiced aloud what he thought of her. He was nothing like this Robin. They seemed almost worlds apart. "... thank you."

And so the two of them sat together in companionable quiet, flipping through the photo album, walking down memory lane. Sometimes the images would bring with them flashes of Robin's memory... other times they would not. But they pushed onward. Starfire wanted Robin to remember who he was to himself... and Robin wanted to remember who she was to him. And so they flipped through the pages, bringing forth images of times past.

Their fateful meeting. The gathering of the Titans. Her first trip to the mall. Their first conflict with the HIVE students. Blackfire's fateful visit to Earth. A beach trip. Their first celebration of Blorthog, the Tamaranian Festival of Friendship. Terra, old ally of the Titans. Even a few pictures of their dance at the 'Date with Destiny' prom they'd attended. At the moment, none of it helped to re-awaken much of Robin's locked away memories but it was a pleasant enough activity to pass the time.

The candle on the dresser continued to flicker, a tiny beacon of light amidst the shadows.

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**Author's Notes:**

Angst galore with poor amnesiac Robin. And now of course we've come across the most prominent plot to my story, though containing a small number of subplots left and right. Robin's lost memory. The one memory he recalled about circus performers was a rather... dramatic... memory from Dick Greyson's (Robin's) past. It was seen very briefly in 'Haunted' so of course Raven knows about it. Expect to see many more like that as time goes on. If anyone doesn't think the animated Robin is Dick then I suggest you turn around now and go find another fic to find. Shoo! Shoo! Most of the clips are from previous episodes featuring Slade (at least, those most likely to be public knowledge), plus a few tossed in to make it seem realistic. Most of the events that Starfire and Robin are talking about or reading in the photo album (seen briefly in my previous story 'Awakening of Evil') are former episodes of Teen Titans, with a few off-screen escapades thrown in for good measure. An obvious exception is made regarding the first meeting of Starfire and Robin, as I covered that in my first animated Titan's fanfiction, 'Secret Origins.'

Dragonmaster-Sain: Don't worry, I'll always be writing. But glad you're enjoying the story.

Lilocila: Interesting guess, you'll find out in due time. I am so very glad you're a fan of my work.

Yomiori-Wolfdemon: Terra being evil was an interesting new look on her, it made her a more interesting character. Most of the Titans seem to benefit from a kinda-sorta-evil episode (Apprentice, Deception, Beast Within, etc.). No Terra for this story though, sorry.

InuKurama: Well ain't that a coincidence, I like it too. Hehe. Glad you're enjoying it.

ViciousAssassin: What a coincidence, those were all my favorite little segments. I do so enjoy writing humor, even if I'm not very good at it. As for the story content, you'll have to wait and see. Still, you read my story last year. It's along those lines. I just hate repeating myself, so I spiced it up this year.

Kodora Fairy: XOXO right back atcha, girl. I see you're a Robin/Starfire fan, so I imagine you'll be adding this story to your favorite list when I'm done with it. I just hope I'm worthy.

ShadowSage2: Ah, it is you. I was wondering when you'd be showing up. I agree, even a holiday-romantic story needs a plot, that's why I decided to go a different route this year than last (last years victims with Kurt and Amanda from XME). They're not the only superteens though... what about Kara? She's only sixteen I think... (two more years baby...) Hehe. Hope you enjoyed this next segment and more to come. I'm very flattered you think my skills are improving.


	3. III

"... and then I explained to you the theory of faster-than-light speed," she finished.

It was almost fun, telling Robin all the things she'd told him before. She even did it better this time around, since she knew where she'd previously made mistakes before in her grammar and was able to correct herself this time around.

But still...

... she almost wished he would correct her. Just once more.

A sudden blaring alarm rang out through Titan's Tower, nearly making Robin nearly leap clean out of his skin and Starfire fall off his bed in surprise.

"What's that? What's going on?" he said, glancing left and right, surprised and scared.

"Robin relax, we'll find out... come with me," she said, taking his hand and pushing open the door to the room. They were about to make their way to the center of Titan's Tower, where the Titans usually gathered for such alerts, but they only made it a few feet down the corridor before they saw Raven, Beastboy and Cyborg making their way down to join them, Cyborg's built-in flashlight guiding the way.

"Just got an alert," he said as he slowed to a stop, shining the light so they could all see one another. "Some lootings going on down in the city... people taking advantage of the blackout."

"The police are overwhelmed, we thought we'd step in and give 'em a hand," added Beastboy.

"We want you to remain behind," said Raven. "Robin's in no condition to fight, and it would be best he have some protection in case something goes wrong. We can handle a bunch of looters."

"Understood," said Starfire with a nod.

"We managed to get some main lighting back up in the living room," said Cyborg, as Raven and Beastboy headed down the corridor. "You two can head there if you want. Cable's still out though."

"My thanks, friend Cyborg," replied Starfire with a gracious nod, as Cyborg turned and made his way out to join the other Titans. In the distance, they could be heard giving their infamous battle-cry.

Taking their advice, Starfire gently coaxed Robin to joining her and took him towards the living room, which was, as they'd said, now fully lit. The sky outside was dark, the rain had slackened off a bit to a mere drizzle as it washed against the great glass windows of the far wall. The Christmas decorations were up but the lights were out and they seemed... duller than before. Almost as if they too were sad over the recent events surrounding the inhabitants of Titan's Tower.

"Must be Christmas time," remarked Robin, eyeing the great tree with its star atop of it, covered in all manner of decorations.

"Yes, the Human Festival. That is tonight, I believe... the X-Mas Eve... and tomorrow is the X-Mas Day," said Starfire, coming up behind him. "We had gathered all the presents for the celebration tomorrow," she said, pointing at the small piles on the ground. Robin absent-mindedly kneeled down, inspecting them. He could not guess their contents, but he saw that they had nametags clearly labeled so he could see to whom they were for... and whom they were from.

"From Robin... to Starfire... this must've been my gift for you," said Robin, holding up the package in question. It wasn't very big, it easily fit into his hands, perhaps no bigger than a foot long, wide and high. And though he sensed a surge of warm feelings when he touched it, he couldn't actively remember what was in it, try though he might.

"I don't remember what I got you," he said morosely.

"It is alright," said Starfire, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. Then, she smiled. "At least this way there will be another surprise waiting for X-Mas Day."

He chuckled at that, placing the gift back down. "Do you always look on the bright side of things?" he asked. She seemed so eternally optimistic about everything. She never seemed to see clouds, only the rays of light between them.

She laughed softly at that, nodding. "I enjoy looking on the bright side of these things."

Silence reigned for a short while after that, as Robin and Starfire made their way to the window. Beyond, there was a beautiful view of Jump City. On this side of Titan's Tower, at least. Part of its design had allowed the Titans to instantly see any truly dangerous threats to the city from the comfort of their living room. On the opposite side of their home, where their room windows pointed, they had a much better view of the wide ocean to the west. Robin gently placed a green gloved hand on the window, peering out at the rain-soaked, blacked-out city. And beyond that, in the glass he saw, somewhat faintly, his reflection. Starfire's joined his, and he didn't need to turn to know she was close by.

"So we're... Titans," he said slowly, puzzled over the unusual word. "Crime fighters?"

He saw her reflection nod in the glass. He was silent for a moment, pondering this new tidbit of information.

"... why?" he finally asked.

"Pardon?" she asked, partially to hear him (he'd spoken very quietly) partially to confirm his question.

"Why do we fight crime...?" he asked softly. "I mean... I don't remember everything but I can remember some things. Fighting isn't fun, people could get hurt... you could get hurt," he said, turning back around to face her, concern evident on his features. "So why do we do it?"

"Because it is the right thing to do," she replied without hesitation. "And I believe we all here have personal reasons to do battle with evil as well. Raven has her... 'issues' with her father... Beastboy does not enjoy seeing others suffer... Cyborg has a good heart..."

"And you?" he asked.

"I... I do what I feel is right. Even if sometimes it can be hard," she replied.

"I wonder why I do it... why would I want to? I don't even seem to have any strange powers like you all... unless I've forgotten about them too," he added bitterly.

"No, no powers," she replied. "Well, you claimed once you had a power. You said that you never give up, and I truly believe that makes you the greatest hero of us all."

"But... there must be... must be a reason. Why do I do it? Who am I, that I fight crime? Who am I?" he repeated, more to himself than her, staring at his reflection in the glass window. "Who am I?"

"You are our friend, Robin," she replied, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder.

He sighed then, realizing he was acting irrationally, and took a deep breath to calm down. "Thanks Starfire."

"I welcome you."

A comfortable silence descended after that, as Robin absorbed some of the new information, as easily as Starfire had once absorbed the English language, back when they'd first met.

"So, do you know anything about me before I became a Titan?" he asked quietly. "Before we met?"

Starfire scrunched up her face, concentrating. Robin did not often talk of his past, but he'd confided in Starfire better than most of the other Titans. Particularly after his time as Slade's Apprentice. He'd wanted no more lies, no more secrets, between them. She'd been grateful. In a sense, Robin's mind and past were like a fortress of titanium steel that repelled all invaders. But he'd opened the gates and let her inside, at least.

Now she just had to remember what he'd told her.

"I recall that before you came to us you were a... an apprentice to another crime-fighter... his partner," she said. "The... the Man-Bat I think his name was. He lives in Gotham."

"Why'd I come here then?"

"I am told you did not wish to... to... forgive me I am uncertain how to phrase this. I believe you said you wished to 'leave his shadow'. That you wanted the same respect that he has."

"I see..." he replied, trying to remember. He couldn't though. Nothing distinct, at any rate. But he -did- get an image of familiarity in his mind. A dark-haired man with a stern countenance, wearing a suit of black not entirely unlike his own, though wholly different. He too had a mask of sorts, but Robin could almost see through it. He knew who lay beneath, though he did not recall a name. "Was he... my father?"

Starfire shook her head. "No your parents..." she started to say, then gasped, covering her mouth with both hands. Robin did not miss the slip of tongue.

"What? What happened to my parents?"

"I... Robin..." she hesitated. She did not want to remind him of what she knew was a distinctly painful memory to him.

"I have to know," he said, looking at her. Behind his black mask, his eyes locked onto hers. Silently pleading with her. She reluctantly gave in.

"Your parents... they were... performers of some kind. They said they could fly... though they could not," related Starfire, telling the story back to Robin as he'd told it to her. At least, as much of it as she'd understood. "Your parents worked in a circus, where they performed for people. They entertained others. I believe you were part of their act too, though you were very young."

"But... something happened, didn't it?"

She nodded solemnly. "Your parents worked for a man who ran the circus, and some very bad men wanted coins from him. He would not pay, and so the bad men made it so your parents... fell... and they could not fly and..."

Robin closed his eyes, but he was suddenly bombarded by stimulation. He recalled it. He recalled it all. As if he'd been there only yesterday.

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_Nine year old Dick Greyson pumped his legs, running for all he was worth. To either side of him lay the brightly colored tents of fellow performers, of his fellows who worked in the circus. The Strong Man and the Lion Tamer, the Clowns and the Ringmaster. But Dick didn't stop and chat, didn't slow down. If anything, he sped up. He had to get there in time. He had to warn them._

_The main tent came into view, as did the sounds of a cheering crowd. The audience would be packed tonight. A final performance by the Flying Greysons before the circus packed up and headed to another town. People wanted to see them. So did Dick. And what's more, he wanted to see them unhurt and safe._

_He should've told them earlier, should've found them earlier, but he hadn't known what to do. He was only a kid. It'd been through sheer luck (or fate) that he'd overheard the circus's owner speaking with the strange man. The one his associates keep referring to as "Boss." He'd heard them afterwards too, safely hidden atop one of the nearby trailers. He'd heard what they were going to do. So he ran for all he was worth._

_A sudden movement caught his eye, and he nearly crashed full force into a fellow performer, only narrowly leaping up and clean over her despite the fact that she towered over him by a good three feet, though his landing was awkward and he stumbled. He didn't slow though. He couldn't. If he didn't make it..._

_Dick practically tore into the back of the main tent, hoping against hope his parents were still there, were still safely preparing for their act. But they weren't there. Their street clothes were there. They'd already changed into their costumes to go perform. So he rushed to the other end of the room and tore the flaps of the tent open, intending to scream his warning, damn whoever was listening._

_But he couldn't. The words caught in his mouth. For in that instant, the Flying Greysons began their act, and they began their flying dance in the sky. Dick couldn't say anything, he could only watch in a curious mixture of awe and horror._

_Mom and Dad._

_They'd never performed so... perfectly._

_Unfortunately... their performance was cut short. As they'd promised to do, the 'Boss's henchmen had weakened the hold of the wires that allowed the Greysons to fly. And, as Dick watched in horror... they snapped. And then they could not fly, and were forced to obey the harsh mistress that was gravity. Both of the Flying Greysons fell... and fell... and fell..._

_... Dick cried out in terror, reaching out, trying to catch them (or so hoped the feeble mind of the nine-year-old boy) to stop them, to do something... -anything-...!_

_But he couldn't._

_Their end was mercifully quick. Neither survived the fall._

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Robin snapped out of the reverie with wide eyes and rapid breath. Starfire, sensing his unease, hesitantly reached out a hand to comfort him. To her surprise, he turned away from it, brushing the offered hand aside, though not roughly.

"... I remember now. I remember what happened," he whispered softly.

"I am sorry Robin," she said. "I too lost my parents at a young age." Myand'r and Luand'r had been lost during a Gordanian conflict many years before, shortly after she was born. Then she'd been left to the capable hands of Galifore, who raised her and her sister.

He didn't seem to hear her. He didn't seem to hear anything except the sounds of his own memories. For with that little crack, more were starting to pour out into his mind. Dark memories. Memories he'd tried to seal away, tried to forget about.

His parents deaths.

Leaving behind Gotham City after a disastrous mistake.

Arguing with the machine-man.

Betraying all of his friend's trust.

Yelling at the Titans for not trusting his instincts.

But the worst memory of all came to him with crystal clarity.

"... no..." he whispered.

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"_Do... not... move..."_

_A deadly starbolt of emerald energy was in Starfire's hand as she hovered before him, aiming directly at his heart. And he saw, to his own horror, his arm was upraised in reply, a wicked looking weapon mounted on his wrist, aimed directly at hers. A stand off. They were on opposite sides._

_They were enemies._

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Starfire couldn't tell what Robin was seeing but she saw first hand he wasn't enjoying it. He was suffering. His memories coming back were bad ones, and they were hurting him. She longed for a way to bring him back, but he seemed unable to see her, unable to hear her as she called out his name quietly.

"... no..." he murmured again, facing something just over her shoulder, beyond her sight.

Desperate, she wracked her brain... and remembered Raven's trick back in the medical bay. She snapped her fingers in front of his face. Instantly his eyes went wide, then he blinked. He looked at her... directly at her. Not a phantom memory, but the real Starfire. But he didn't look happy at all.

"... I hurt you, didn't I?" he said.

"Robin?"

"I saw it. I saw us on a rooftop... we were fighting... we were... we were enemies," he said. His legs gave out underneath him, and Starfire moved quickly to catch Robin before he hit the ground as all the strength in his body seemed to be leeched out of him by the memory.

"You were not yourself, Robin... you were being manipulated... but even then you could not shoot me. We could not fight one another. No force in this universe could make us do that."

"These memories... they come in random flashes but they're... they're so full of pain," he said, gently pushing away from her and standing again, presenting his back to her. His resolved hardened. "Maybe... maybe it would be better if I don't remember."

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**Author's Notes:**

And now nobody knows what Robin's gift is. Nobody but me, of course. Muwahahaha. Robin's mentor was, of course, not the infamous Man-Bat, but Batman (obviously Starfire was confused) and was like a father to his protégés in many ways, hence the confusion over his memories. Dick Greyson's parents died when he was nine, in the fashion I've shown here. We see a brief image of this in 'Haunted' in Robin's head (more proof that this Robin is indeed Dick, as opposed to Jason or Tim). Starfire having lost her parents is guesswork on my part, based on their lack of appearance in the animated series (particularly in 'Betrothed' where they didn't show up to Starfire's wedding). More detail is provided in 'Secret Origin' on my theory regarding the fates of Myand'r and Luand'r. Of course the second memory is the infamous scene from 'Apprentice, part II.' Next time, Starfire and Robin work to unlock more of his memories, with aid from the Titans, but it's a long and difficult journey, and hardly over yet.

Kodora Fairy: More than usual, at any rate. Glad you're enjoying the story and found it worthy enough for your favorites list.

Todd fan: It's a gift. Much like you're putting characters in awkward situations gift. Hehe.

Yomiori-wolfdemon: Terra was an interesting character, indeed, but… what brought her up? I haven't even mentioned her in my story yet. But there will be more BB and Raven later on, so enjoy.

Tigress419: Glad I am to brighten your dreary weekend. I always love referring back to my own stories, after I write them I almost can't tell the difference between them and an actual episode. I used to do stuff like that too, during hurricanes in Connecticut. Fun indeed. No sunrise for Robin and Starfire, but it'll be sweet, trust me.

Dragonmaster-Sain: Pardon? You speak English there buddy?

ViciousAssassin: Not necessarily, snow is created from very cold rain, after all. No Slade, I stated above the only villain was Overload and I needed him as a plot device more than a villain. Interesting theory, I presume you refer to the way she learned English in the comics, yes? Hehe. As for the ending, well I doubt you'll be disappointed. But it's always darkest before dawn.

Elrohirthewriter: Very much so. Even when he can't quite remember why. I'm such a shipper but I love writing couples like that, it's so very cute. Though I think I write couples entirely too much to be healthy. Glad you enjoyed Raven's contribution to the gifts. You'll find out later what they are.


	4. IV

"You have found a way to restore Robin's lost memories?"

Raven's expression grew, if possible, even darker. "No," she replied in monotone, managing to keep the majority of annoyance out of her voice. "Just like the last six times you asked."

"But there must be a way!" said Starfire.

"Relax Star, its all good... Raven and I are doing everything we can," said Cyborg to her left. He was working on the computer, Raven was perusing some of her books on the medical arts, both hoping to find information on how to cure amnesia. So far, with minimal success.

Robin was in his room, resting. Starfire had taken him back after he'd nearly collapsed again, seeing how he was too weak and tired to carry on. Then the other Titans had returned, and she'd given them no rest until they set themselves to finding a cure. Only Beastboy was spared her insistent begging for assistance, as he was busy fetching Raven's books from her room, since teleporting them to her required more of her power than she was able to expend. Stopping the looters had taken a lot out of her.

"There must be a way to make Robin all better again," said Starfire. "You must find it!"

"We're doing everything we can," said Raven, flipping through the final page in her next book. She discarded it, finding it was useless. Nothing on mental disorders. She placed it into the small pile by her feet. As if cued, Beastboy then burst into the room, carrying a few more of her precious tomes in his tentacles as he oozed into the room as an octopus, holding a book in each tentacle.

"Got the ones you wanted," he said to Raven, handing her the first and placing the others in a surprisingly neat pile beside her.

"Good. This should be the one I need," she said, sliding open the book and flipping through it towards the page she needed.

"Ooooh... I wish there was something I could do," muttered Starfire in utter frustration. Give her an army of enemies, she could fight, but this problem she had no power over and no skill to influence. She felt utterly helpless.

"Star, get some sleep, Rae and I got this," said Cyborg, stifling a yawn as he continued to type into the computer. Although he was capable of going for very long periods of time without sleep thanks to his cybernetic implants he still needed sleep as a psychological comfort, and it was waaaaay past his bedtime.

"No," she said firmly.

"But Star..." said Beastboy.

"WHAT PART OF 'NO' DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND?!" roared Starfire angrily, her eyes burning emerald suns set under her brow. Beastboy... wisely... backed away. Starfire calmed down. "I am sorry... concern for Robin is on my mind. Forgive me, friend Beastboy."

"Hey its alright. We're all worried about Robin," he said generously. She smiled, thankful that Beastboy could handle such things. It just wasn't in his nature to hold a grudge, he forgave others rather easily. The only exception he'd ever made, so far as she knew, was Slade. But then again, none of the Titans could ever forgive him after what he'd done to them either.

It seemed to Starfire like hours passed, when in truth it was nowhere near as long. The clock on the wall had ceased moving when the power to Titan's Tower had gone out, but Cyborg's monitor kept them updated on the time, and it was growing very late in deed. In another hour or so it would technically be morning when Cyborg gave a very loud, long yawn that nearly split his mechanical head in two.

"Awww man... I can't keep going girl. I'm sorry but if I don't get some R n' R or I'm gonna pass out on the keyboard," he said.

"I am sorry, Cyborg," she said. "I am just..."

"... worried about Robin, I know. Listen, first thing in the morning, promise. We'll have this thing wrapped up in time for breakfast."

"Thank you," said Starfire gratefully, as Cyborg made his way to his room. Beastboy followed along, have returned all but one of Raven's books to her own room. The last one was still in Raven's hand, but she shut it with a sigh of frustration. Nothing there either. She said as much.

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"Tomorrow I'll visit the library, most of my informational books are on spells," she said as she slipped to her feet. "And I don't think going into his head myself is a good idea. I might make things worse... or I could get trapped in there. It's not worth the risk," she said, heading out of the room and down the hallway to the women's hall. Their rooms were adjacent, just as Cyborg's, Robin's and Beastboy's were on the far end of the Tower. Starfire followed alongside Raven, her head hanging. She looked very depressed indeed.

"Don't worry Starfire. I contacted an old friend of Robin's. If anyone can help us... he sure can."

"Robin says he does not wish to remember all the bad things that happened to him..." said Starfire reluctantly.

"Package deal I'm afraid," replied Raven. "Gotta take the good with the bad."

"But all he seems to see is the bad!" exclaimed Starfire. "All the memories that have come back are hurting him and making him feel sad and we must find a way to..." she rambled, then stopped in mid-sentence, a most peculiar expression on her face. "To... to..." Her eye twitched.

"Starfire?" asked Raven, glancing back at her in surprise.

Starfire, meanwhile, blinked her eyes, then clutched at her head, which seemed to be squirming underneath her fingertips. Growing or changing. Even for an alien, this was weird.

"Ahhhh!" screamed Starfire, as a sudden mound of flesh burst from her head, not unlike the "zit" she'd had during transformation, and then exploded (somehow leaving her skin intact) as a bright little... thing... popped out.

"Hello!" it cried out, in a high-pitched voice.

"Oh no... not again," said Raven, holding a hand to her face and shaking her head.

The little thing hovered beside Starfire as she lifted her head, able to see it now at last. It was a tiny little girl, perhaps no more than a foot and a half tall and about half a foot wide, and rather... childish looking. Almost cartoonish, like those shows she watched every morning with Beastboy. The little red-headed girl was dressed in bright purples and grays not unlike Starfire's own, and her eyes were like brilliant green emeralds. In that instance, Starfire knew what... or rather who... she was dealing with.

"Uhm... hello," she said, stretching out hand to the curious little creature.

"Starfire! Yay!" cried out the little floating creature, leaping forward to grab Starfire in a warm hug (or at least, grab her neck). Starfire, overcome by the creature's giddiness, responded in kind.

The cute display was nearly enough to make Raven vomit.

"So, dimensions 4 and 8/9ths is sending us more of their inhabitants, are they?" asked Raven sarcastically. The little girl, upon spotting Raven, gave a joyous cry and rushed to engulf her in a hug as well, but bounced off a black energy shield she'd erected. "So who're you and what brings you here?" she asked.

"I am R'dnairok!" the little red-headed girl replied, standing next to Starfire. To Raven, the resemblance was uncanny. At least, if you took Starfire and turned her into a tiny cartoonish version of herself, and put her on a sugar high that made regular Starfire seem like Raven. "I come from..."

"Dimension 4 and 8/9th's, we know," interrupted Raven.

"Oh, yes... uhm. Well, I sensed Starfire was sad, so I asked my boyfriend Nosyerg Kcid to send me here," she explained. Then she burst out with "I'm here to help! Yay!"

Raven didn't reply to that for a moment, her face was locked in a carefully neutral expression. Help. Great, this was all we need, she thought. Nosyerg Kcid or "Larry's" help had nearly wrecked all of reality. So instead of saying anything in reply to R'dnairok, she turned around and headed to her room, intending to lock it and seal it off as utterly as possible with magic wards.

"Starfire?" she called out over her shoulder. "If a strange little imp calling itself 'Nevar' happens to show up...? Do not... I repeat... do NOT come and get me."

"Uhm... okay," said Starfire, puzzled by the request. "Sleep well, friend Raven."

Raven's door shut, leaving Starfire alone with her DNA buddy.

"Uhm... hello little doppelganger of... me..." said Starfire hesitantly, unsure of how to address R'dnairok.

"I wish I could stay longer," said R'dnairok, floating around Starfire in crazy circles. "But I can't. Rules even Nosyerg and I can't bend you understand. But I wanted to come and help you fix Robin so he'd be all better!"

"Glorious!" said Starfire, grabbing up the little girl and running with her tucked under her shoulder towards Robin's room. "I shall go inform..."

"Wait! Wait!"

Starfire skidded to a dead stop, holding up R'dnairok in her hands.

"I can't just flick my finger and make Robin all better. Only Nosyerg has that sort of power. I can't bend reality like him. I just came with information," she explained, breathlessly.

"Information?" asked Starfire, tilting her head to one side like a cat.

"I know what'll cure Robin but... welllllll... its kinda hard to explain," she said shyly.

"Please explain, little doppelganger of me," said Starfire, shaking her a little. "I will do anything to restore Robin's memories. I would wrestle with a fully grown dracon sand-panther if it would make... if it would make Robin remember me," she said sadly, slumping to her knees on the floor, still holding R'dnairok in her outstretched arms.

"I know," said R'dnairok gently, patting Starfire on the head. "And I wanna help too. What you need to do is give Robin a shock to his system. Something powerful, mind you. That should shake loose those memories from his mind."

"A shock?" said Starfire in surprise. Images of an electrified Robin sprang instantly to mind. "Oh nonononono I could never hurt Rob..."

"Nonononon," replied her extra-dimensional self, in a near perfect reflection of Starfire. "Not electrocute. Just... shock. Surprise him."

"Oh... I am understanding now," said Starfire. "A... a big surprise."

"That should be what you need," said R'dnairok. "I hope I helped Starfire."

Starfire hugged her little doppelganger close, and the two stayed that way for a short while. Starfire was infinitely grateful to her the little inter-dimensional imp for giving her renewed hope. And to Larry for sending her here to impart her message to Starfire. She owed them both a great big thanks. Perhaps she'd bake some of her homemade Tamaranian gruf'fle cakes when next they decided to put into their dimension. But she'd need a guinea pig...

However, it ended all too soon, and R'dnairok waved good-bye as she vanished with a bright flash of light and a soft pop, leaving Starfire alone again. Alone... but with renewed purpose. She took confident steps forward as she made her way down the hallway of Titan's Tower towards her destination.

Robin's room.

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Robin, however, was not -in- his room.

Robin stood alone on the rooftop, his cape wrapped around his shoulders to provide him with a little warmth from the still moist air, though the rain had long since stopped. It was quiet now. And very, very cold. But he welcomed the cold. The physical distraction kept him from turning his thoughts inward, from finding more memories... from finding more pain. The moon wasn't full tonight, it had long since passed from that state earlier in the month. A slender crescent hung in the air instead, casting its silvery glow across the T-shaped home of the Titans whenever the dark clouds permitted it to do so. It also illuminated the dark city stretched out before him. Jump City, Starfire had called it. It was dark now. Not a single light shined anywhere. It was still suffering from the blackout.

The clouds shifted, bringing the moon's crescent face back into view to illuminate the rooftop...

... as well as a shadowy figure crouched a short distance behind Robin.

Robin didn't notice, and the figure shook his head in mild disgust. Really, he should've been paying attention. But all the better, he supposed. He didn't want a personal reunion between them anyway. Psychotic criminals he could handle... expressing his feelings he wasn't.

Never stopped him from helping people, though.

A sudden scraping of gravel alerted Robin to the fact that he wasn't alone, and he whirled around in surprise, his hand instinctively dropping down to the belt at his waist But as he peered out at the moonlit rooftop... there was no one there. Nothing was different, it was as quiet and cold as it had been for hours now.

No... wait...

Robin took a hesitant step forward, reaching down to pick an object left on the rooftop. It'd been left there purposefully, or so it seemed. It certainly hadn't been there when he'd first come up to find solace amongst the clouds and stars.

It was a photograph.

It depicted a happy family, a mother father and a young boy of about eight or nine, all with dark hair. Robin instantly recognized them. The Greyson's... his mom and dad... and the boy could only have been himself. He looked so... so innocent and carefree. So happy. He was dressed in a bright red, green and yellow costume not unlike the one he wore now. Bright, garish colors, with a child's black mask tied behind his head, and the cape was clearly a yellow towel tied around his neck. He was playing make-believe with his parents, pretending to be a flying Greyson. Make-believe... all fun and games... no one ever gets hurt...

Robin frowned darkly, crumpling the photo in his gloved fist. As he did, however, he spotted something curious, and unfolded it, turning it around to the back. There was writing on the back. A quick, hurried writing that none-the-less was very clear and very bold.

**They would be proud of you.**

Robin turned the photo back over, doing his best to sooth out the crinkles. His long dead parents smiled up at him from the photo. Would they be proud of him? Really? He couldn't recall everything but he knew he'd done some bad things in the past. But would they be proud of him? Was he proud of himself?

"I wish I could remember..." he said with a sigh. More importantly, he wished he could remember Starfire.

She was being so endlessly patient with him, so very kind in helping him unlock the secrets of his past (secrets to him, at least) and restore his memories. And he had hardly returned the favor. He owed her a great deal.

She said he never gave up, huh? Well, time to find out what was really rattling around inside this noggin' of his.

Concentrating, the former Boy Wonder searched his mind, searched through his memories, trying to remember who Starfire was and... more importantly... who she was to him.

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"_And now the moment you've all been waiting for, the King and Queen of this year's Prom are..."_

_Bright sudden lights and the booming voice startled Robin and Starfire in that instant, and they took up defensive stances, back-to-back. Though they quickly relaxed when they heard what the overhead voice was saying. Its next words, however, surprised the heck out of both of them._

"_... Robin and Starfire!"_

_They turned to face one another then, smiling. Starfire in particular seemed very pleased._

"_I guess one more dance couldn't hut," he said to her, gently taking her in his arms. Unlike Kitten, she didn't press up against him too closely or hang off him like a dead fish with two left feet. Starfire danced like she was floating (which she might have been), one hand holding Robin's, the other resting on his shoulder. He mirrored her stance, his hand outstretched, its brother resting gently on her hip, though not indecently. He was a gentleman, of course._

"_I stand corrected," he said quietly as they danced to the rhythm of the music. "-This- is the best I've felt all night."_

"_Because the mean Kitten and her father the evil Killer Moth are in jail?" asked Starfire innocently._

_Robin smiled, wishing he could say more, but didn't. "... sure." he eventually replied, as always stopping himself before he actually said how he felt. Now just... just wasn't the time. Most of the Prom goers were watching their new King and Queen with their dance, some in envy at their obvious skill. And though Robin had eyes only for Starfire, he happened to spot Cyborg give a smirk and a thumb's up from nearby the disk jockey. More than enough evidence to tell him who'd set up that announcement._

_Robin smirked. He could get Cyborg back later... after he thanked him._

_Starfire and Robin continued to dance long into the night, eyes only on each other, hearing nothing but the music._

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Deep in concentration as he was, he didn't notice the presence on the rooftop until a soft footfall fell behind him once more. His head snapped up and he turned around again...

... to come face-to-face with Starfire.

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**Author's Notes:**

R'dnairok is, of course, Koriand'r spelled backwards. Starfire's real name, just like Dick Greyson is Robin's. Nevar is, of course, Raven, who doesn't have a real name (at least not as far as I know, and I've checked some pretty extensive websites on the matter). The backwards name spelling was inspired by Larry's true name in 'Fractured.' Before the Titans changed it to Larry, of course. The figure on the rooftop was, obviously, the Batman himself, come to visit his old protégé. The 'old friend' of Robin's that Raven said she'd contacted. Obviously the dance-memory comes from 'Date with Destiny' at the very end of the episode and just a bit beyond it. Next time, meeting on the rooftop. It's going to take more than a little Christmas magic to end this nightmare, but don't lose hope just yet.

Toddfan: Very nice gifts indeed. And we share them freely with all those who would witness our torment of the characters. Hehe. Don't worry about poor Robbie though. I don't intend to torment him… too much… longer.

Kodora Fairy: XOXO. 'fraid not. I'm stretching out this story so that it begins on December and has the main plot resolved on Christmas Eve. The aftermath and final chapter comes out the following day.

InuKurama: Glad you're enjoying it.

Dragonmaster-Sain: Nope, you didn't. Looked like a quadratic formula had exploded in the review, frankly. Hehe. Thanks for the review though, and glad you think this story is the greatest. Not so sure myself, but I am trying.

Bob the Builder: I'm not ending here, relax. But I do have an unfortunate bad habit of ending chapters with cliffhangers, terribly sorry. It's just my nature. Starfire would never do such a thing! I am shocked you would even suggest such!

Tigress419: Hehehe, I enjoyed that one the most actually, since it refers to a real DC character. Don't worry, me and Dragonblond got plenty more chapters comin' right atcha, so stick around. And yes, misquote is a word.

ViciousAssassin: I toyed with that idea, actually, and an alternate version of this story was scheduled for next month involving Slade messing with Robin's mind because of the amnesia. However, for fluffy holiday cheer, I needed to keep things a little more simple. And yeah, it's gonna get worse before it gets better, but there's still hope.

Dragonblond: I've heard it before, yes I know Tim was there, but honestly, why would he recall something like that happening when he wasn't frickin' involved? He'd remember his own parent's death or something, wouldn't he? Robin is Dick damnit!! Hehe, jk, sorry. I didn't know Dick was ever actually adopted by Bruce, that -is- informative, thank you. You'll see soon enough what the gifts between the Titan's are. I, on the other hand, likely have to wait to find out those delicious plot twists.

InnoscenTorn: Well there's no guarantee he -is- Dick, but the writers seem to suggest it throughout the Titan episodes and I agree, so that's how I write him. Plus, it was the Greyson Robin (there were two others) who was in love with Starfire. I think that's evidence enough. Good to see you're back on the scene, and hope you enjoy the rest of the story to come.


	5. V

"Starfire..."

"Robin..."

Two pairs of eyes met on the moonlit rooftop of Titan's Tower. One pair of sky blue, partially hidden by a dark black mask. The other a pair of brilliant emerald, shining like the central Lantern battery on Oa. For a while both were quiet, the cool night air rustling between them as they regarded one another quietly. And thoughtfully.

"I'm sorry," he said then, breaking the silence that seemed oppressive. Starfire, however, was stunned by his sudden words. She tilted her head quizzically, puzzled.

"Why?" she asked.

"I've been selfish," he replied. "I... I was so scared to try and remember my life I didn't see how... how I've been hurting you. You've done your best to help me and I pushed you away and... and I'm sorry. If... if you want to stop helping me... I'll understand. I don't want to be a burden to you."

He lowered his head shamefully, yet at the same time he was glad he'd finally gotten the words out. He fully expected her to leave then, and it would be best. He didn't want to be a burden to her. Instead he was surprised when bright violet clothes and golden tanned skin entered his vision, and he tilted his head up to behold Starfire, floating right in front of him, nearly eye-to-eye. He decided he should take back then and there what he'd said about her picture in the photo album.

-Now- she looked beautiful.

"You are never a burden to me, Robin. Nor was I ever one to you when we first met. You've been at my side always throughout my time here on Earth. I only wish to return the favor," she said softly.

"Thank you," he said, reaching out to hold her, to hold her to him. To cling to her. With his life in shambles, his mind a tortured maze of chaotic images and memories, she was his anchor. Something he could hold on to. And he did so. She held him close, comforting him as best she was able.

"Starfire... I think I found another memory... can you help me remember more?"

"Of course," she replied, gently disentangling herself from his arms... though with great hesitation. "What do you remember?"

He described his most recent memory to her, the one he'd just been going over when she'd arrived on the rooftop. The one about them dancing.

"Prom," she replied. "Junior Prom... I remember. We'd gone there on a mission to save the city..."

"To a dance?" he asked in disbelief.

She nodded, utterly serious. "You'd been forced to escort a royal zarbnarf of a girl name Kitten there... and I'd come along to save you in case she hurt you... and... and we fought her and the Fang who was with her, and they were taken away to jail... and then... and then..." she stammered, blushingly lightly.

"... we danced," he finished. His memory must've started just after this encounter with "Kitten" and "the Fang" of whom Starfire spoke.

"Yes."

He sighed softly, making his way to the rooftop's edge... but then stopped, turning back to her and smiled. Unlike before, when he was upset, he beckoned her to join him. They sat down on the edge, peering out at the city of Jump, still black and quiet from Overload's rampage.

"I wish I could remember," he said again.

"I too... but we've not yet found a way to restore your memories..." she said, then reluctantly added, "Well... there might be one way."

"What is it?" he asked, his interest suddenly piqued.

"A..." Starfire hesitated, unsure of what to tell Robin. Already he was having enough trouble with simple things like aliens and magic, introducing the concept of extra-dimensional imps might not be the best way to tell him things. "... a friend told me that in order to bring back your memories we must... must find some way to shock you. Surprise you, really," she added.

"... I see," he replied after a moment. "How?"

"I am not knowing," replied Starfire. "R'dn... er... my friend did not know herself exactly. And I would not wish to do anything that would possibly hurt you," she said suddenly, trying to relax him. He seemed... incredibly tense. It was hard to tell, but only Batman himself had known Robin longer than Starfire, and she could read him very well.

"No," he agreed with her. "But... but if there's a chance. I want to take it. I want to remember Star. I want to remember -you-. Okay?"

"OK," she replied solemnly, resting her hands in her lap as she gazed out at the sky and the moon. Thinking. She had no real fear she'd fall, she could fly after all. Like Robin had earlier, she focused all her concentration on thinking of a suitable way to shock Robin. A way to restore his memories. And while not as bright as Robin himself, or Raven with her mysticism, or Cyborg with his mechanics, or even Beastboy with his surprisingly large number of facts on animal anatomy, Starfire had always been a bright girl. Because of her unique look on life she often viewed a problem and could come to the most startling insightful conclusions.

And so it was that a flash of insight hit her like a bolt of lightning (which had happened once, an incident involving a broken TV antennae and a failed rock-paper-scissors with Beastboy) and she realized, in that instant, what she had to do. R'dnairok had been very subtle in paving the way for her, but now that she had, she was very grateful.

Though her cheek suddenly burned crimson at the very thought of it.

"Starfire?" asked Robin, glancing over at her in surprise. She'd been intense in concentration before, now it looked like something was on her mind. "You okay?"

"Fine," she managed to squeak out, still blushing deeply. Hesitantly she took his hand, helping him to stand. "I... er... I believe I've thought of a... a rather good way to shock you," she said, her voice cracking with emotion. Her eyes were wet with tears, and she seemed on the verge of loosing them. "But you may not like what I am about to do," she added softly.

Gently he placed one hand on her shoulder, the other coming up to tenderly dry her tears. "Even without my memories I can tell you care a lot about me, Starfire... and I care a lot about you. Whatever you do, I know it's only in my best interest... so go ahead. I'm not afraid of you. I trust you."

"Thank you," she whispered, touched by his faith in her. Then, without warning grabbed his head with both hands and pulled him forward, at the same time moving herself towards him until their lips suddenly met, pressing against one another's in a powerful kiss.

To say Robin was shocked was a dreadful understatement. He was flat out stunned, amazed, astonished, bewildered, blown away, bowled over, flabbergasted, floored, knocked, overcome, overwhelmed, startled, stumped, surprised, taken aback, thrown, thunderstruck and much more than any number of English adjectives could describe. He almost started to struggle, caught completely off guard... but then relaxed into the kiss, letting his lips mold against Starfire's softly. Tentatively exploring the texture of her tiny mouth.

It would've surprised both of them to know it was their very first kiss.

Robin had never had time for frivolous pursuits before joining the Titans, he'd been wholly consumed by his work as the sidekick of Batman, training and fighting and learning so he could be a better crime-fighter. Consequently his alter ego, Dick Greyson, had never gone out much. And even those few dates had never ended with anything more than a friendly hug or simple good-bye, and even more rarely a second date. At the time, he hadn't cared. He told himself he'd been saving his first kiss for the right girl... that he'd wanted the moment to be special...

Starfire too, had never been kissed before. As royalty on Tamaran, it had been forbidden for any to get so truly close to her. She was kept pure and innocent for the man she was to marry when she came of age. But now that she was no longer technically the Princess of Tamaran, she could choose whomever she wished... to do whatever she pleased. However, like Robin, she'd wanted to save herself for the right person and make it special...

... and was it ever. A casual observer (had one been present) would not have been surprised it sparks not unlike fireworks were to surround the young couple at any moment.

Starfire quickly broke the kiss, far too soon for both of them, it seemed, and beheld Robin, hoping her plan had worked. She'd given everything she had to try and surprise him, tried to startle him. She hoped it worked. She silently prayed to X'Hal it worked.

"... Robin?" she whispered quietly. She could still feel a tingle on her lips where they'd kiss, and it sent shivers throughout her body that had nothing to do with the cold air.

For a moment Robin stumbled backwards, and Starfire gasped, reaching out to catch him. He fell backwards, his eyes rolling back into his head. She realized he'd fainted again, and she gently lay him down on the rooftop, tapping his cheek. "Robin...? Robin...?"

A very, very long while passed, and he did not stir, his only motions the slow and steady intake and outtake of breath showing her that he was alright, if unconscious. Still, she was beside herself with worry. She was terrified perhaps she had shocked him too deeply, that her surprise had instead further fragmented his damaged mind. That perhaps he would remember even less than before.

Finally, Robin stirred, his eyes fluttering behind his black mask as the world came into focus. And of course, the first thing he saw was Starfire's pretty face looking down at him with concern. And now a little relief, that he was awake again.

"Robin... are you alright?" she asked softly.

And, to her vast relief, he smiled up at her, reaching up a hand. "... yeah," he replied, as she took his hand and helped him to his feet. And, to her vast surprise (and equally vast pleasure) she saw his body language has changed. No longer shy... but confident.

His next words confirmed her greatest hope.

"I'm back... Koriand'r," he said tenderly. Her real name. None of the other Titans knew it, only Robin, he was the only one she'd ever told it to, and she'd never been able to tell him during his blackout. It had never come up, but in another sense she'd been keeping it as a test. And he'd passed. He was cured! His memories were restored!

"Robin!" she cried out joyfully, leaping forward and crushing him in a bear-hug. It was fortunate for him that she'd managed to restrain herself. Otherwise he'd be back in the medical bay in no time, and with physical injuries this time instead of mental ones.

But he didn't think about that right now. Right now he gently wrapped his arms around Starfire and held her close to him. "It's good to be back," he whispered softly. "I'm sorry I worried you Star."

"I am simply very very very glad to have the real Robin back... you remember everything?" she asked, a sudden fear clutching at her heart once more.

"More or less," he replied. "I think I forgot what teachers I had in second grade..." he added teasingly.

"Oh... I am sorry Robin," she said, lifting her head back up to meet his eyes. She actually looked worried before she spotted his expression. He wasn't sad, he was... smirking.

"It was a joke, Starfire," he explained to her patiently. Still smiling, even. And she suddenly felt weak to her knees. She'd missed this. She'd missed being corrected by Robin. She'd missed... she'd missed _him_. He'd been at her side all night, but he hadn't been with her. Not really. But now _her_ Robin was back. All was well again.

"Glorious!" she said, still clinging to him, her hands resting on his shoulders. "I simply must recite the Poem of Gratitude for the safe recovery of your memories. All six thousand verses!"

"I'll trade you all six thousand for another kiss," he said jokingly. And Starfire could tell it was a joke this time, and they both shared a good laugh over that. That is, until their eyes met... and their laughs subsided. And they realized just how close they truly were... physically and emotionally.

With only a minimal of hesitation, and nearly on a simultaneous cue, the two of them leaned forward, slowly this time, and softly kissed once more. This kiss lingered, lasting for what seemed like an eternity to both of them, as they tentatively explored one another's lips. Starfire's arms slid around Robin's neck to press him more deeply into the kiss, and at the same time his arms wrapped around her slender waist to draw her in more closely to his embrace. Neither had any real clue what they were doing. They were letting their teenaged hormones guide them. And something else. Something deep and magical they shared in their hearts. A bond not easily put into words. Only a single one in the English language came close.

Love.

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For how long the two of them stood like that, wrapped in one another's arms, neither could say. Nor did they particularly care. However, a sudden chill on the back of her neck made Starfire gasp, and their kiss ended. Robin looked at her in surprise, before he felt a similar chill on his bare arm. They both looked up.

It was snowing.

Perfect globes of cool white snow fell from the skies above them, flowing down in a soft flurry. The rain from earlier in the night must have decided to return when the temperature had dropped... but now it was a simple and beautiful display and both of them enjoyed it, their gaze traveling from one another to the beautiful ebon skies of night to the floating snowflakes as they descended. It looked almost as if the stars were drifting down to Earth. And, as they both watched, they saw that, throughout the night, someone had been working to repair the damage Overload had been doing. Not just Starfire. She had cured the blackout in Robin's head. And now someone had 'cured' the blackout in Jump City. As they watched, it lit up with the bright white, green and red lights, all the Christmas lights coming back to illuminate the city and the landscape.

In their entire lifetimes, Robin and Starfire had only ever seen one thing more beautiful than the sight before them now. And it was right beside them. And they still had one arm wrapped around the other's sides as they stared out at the beautiful snowfall on their equally beautiful city.

Robin reached up with his free hand, unclasping his cape and gently draping it over Starfire's bare shoulders to help keep her warm. And though she appreciated the gesture, she did not feel in the least bit cold. She felt an inner fire inside of her, and it burned as brightly as the yellow sun of Earth.

"Merry X-Mas, Robin," she murmured contently, resting her head on his shoulder.

"Merry Christmas, Starfire," he replied, his arm still wrapped around her shoulders, his head resting atop of hers tenderly.

They were like that... for a very, very long time. Almost until the sun had risen on Titan's Tower.

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**Author's Notes:**

Comic Starfire pulled a similar move on Robin, though it had been to learn English (absorbed through physical contact with a native speaker) rather than shock him. However, as shocks go, I think that's got to have been the biggest he's ever received. The Poem of Gratitude (and all of its six thousand verses) was mentioned but (thankfully) not recited early on in 'Sisters.' Next time: Christmas morning, presents exchanged. Good-bye angst, hello giddy warm feelings all around. And time to find out what the Titan's gifts (not just Starfire's and Robin's) are to one another. Still taking last minute guesses. Or any kinda guesses for that matter.

Yomiori-wolfdemon: Websites don't post well, I couldn't see it. However, I think I've seen websites to the effect of which you're describing more times than I care to recount. But I'll take a look.

ShadowSage2: I know, tough stuff, isn't it? Meanie teachers. With the grammar you'll have to thank my beta, Katergator, I still missed plenty that Word didn't catch. I'm glad you enjoyed the Batman and R'dnairok appearances. I checked out the story you mentioned, Tara Logan was referring to Terra. Her real name was Tara Markov. Obviously the fan was Beastboy/Terra not Beastboy/Raven. Raven is her real name.

Todd fan: Starfire angrily pushes Toddfan away Mine! Get your own!

Clueless90: Glad you're enjoying it.

Heome Lover: Like totally huh? Wow that's high praise. Hope you enjoyed the update, one more to go and it's coming sooner than you'd think.

Dragonblond: Wow, a super-extra-mega-long review, I haven't received one of those since Annihilation. I am unworthy! You do make a good point, I suppose. Raven Roth… I like it! 'course if I have my way with her she'll be Raven Logan before too long. Glad I am that I could relieve the suffering that is college from you, and even help you do well on your exam. Stubbornness works, but I think what you're going for is dedication. This chapter I hope you enjoyed, next one's tomorrow, so watch for it. As for your own stories well, genius cannot be rushed. Your loyal fans will wait.

Tigress419: Reviews tend to cut out letters and numbers if they're repeated more than twice. Go figure why. Glad you enjoyed the Man-Bat cameo and the appearance of Larry's "girlfriend." But come on, you saw how he melted in 'Fractured.' We all know exactly how he, and his DNA buddy, feel about their counterparts.

Jadedea: Wow, another rabid fan. I must be on to something. Don't worry, you don't have to wait as long for the next update.

InuKurama: I'd probably like a Nevar too. But we all know Raven darn well wouldn't. Glad you're enjoying the story, InuKurama-san.

Titansfan: Robin's past ain't pretty. None of the Titans really are, but for now I'm focusing on him. Lucky he's got a pretty Tamaranian Princess to help him through it though, isn't he? I agree, I enjoyed Date with Destiny too. Then again there are few Titan episodes I truly don't like.

Ray1: Well Batman you've seen, what on earth gives you the idea I'm involving Batgirl though? Your spider-senses must be off. Get 'em fixed.

Renayum04: Thank you. Work hard, I will. Next chapter soon.


	6. VI

Technically, it _was_ Christmas Day.

Robin and Starfire hadn't slept so much as a wink the entire night. First they'd been too worried about their respective problems, then they'd been enjoying one another's company too much. Thus, when dawn started to peek over the horizon and they realized just how late/early it was, they decided to head inside and out of the snow. It was almost a foot high now on some parts of the island.

So they'd gone inside. Prepared and drank some hot chocolate, stirred up the fire and re-activated the heaters since Titan's Tower now had power running through it. Neither spoke much. There was no need for it. They seemed to know, on an almost instinctive level, what the other was thinking.

Thus, when Starfire happened to glance at the presents sitting under the Christmas tree...

"... oh what the heck?" asked Robin rhetorically. "The others won't mind, I'm sure."

So Robin sat down and crossed his legs before him, resting comfortably on the floor as Starfire plopped herself down across from him, the presents resting between them. By unspoken consent, they decided to only open their gifts to one another. It wouldn't be fair to Cyborg, Beastboy and (apparently) Raven to open their gifts without them being present. Starfire handed her gift, a long, thin box wrapped lovingly in green and red to Robin, and he handed his to her, a much smaller one, a tiny box no more than a foot long, high and wide the color of azure skies covered in white snowflakes.

"Who goes first?" he asked jokingly.

"I... I am not knowing," she replied hesitantly. "Does it matter?"

"Not really... you go first, Star," Robin replied.

Starfire nodded. Last year she'd torn into her gifts with little care much like Beastboy had shown her, eager to find out what was inside and tossing the wrappings aside to be discarded. This year, however, she could sense a much more solemn air to it. And thus she took apart the gift with a slow, delicate touch, well aware of how Robin was watching her. And smiling.

Finally, she tore open the last of the wrappings and found a small box within, immediately sliding that open as well. Curiously, inside lay nothing more than a single silver disk, perhaps no larger than her palm. It was covered in a myriad of strange, alien symbols, but she didn't recognize any of them. They weren't English... her absorption of the language a few years ago had included written as well as verbal versions of the language. Nor was it Tamaranian or any of the other languages she'd learned in her lifetime. She couldn't even begin to guess at its purpose.

Unless it was a rather fancy drink coaster, that is.

Curious, Starfire picked it up out of its wrappings and held it in her palm, looking at it curiously. "It is... uhm... very nice?" she asked, only half-convinced. It was rather pretty, a shiny and rather new mercury-silver look to it, covered in the runes. But she still had no idea what it was for.

Robin, expecting this, reached out and gently took her hand, letting her hold the disk before her. "It's an illusitron," explained the Boy Wonder. "Martian technology... it creates a small illusion over empty space. J'onn brought a few with these of him from his homeworld ages ago, and Wayne Enterprises recently managed to make passable copies... not available to the public, of course.," he added with a smirk. Starfire matched it. She knew well enough why. Wayne Enterprises was the secret benefactor and financial backer of the Justice League, much as the Stone family (particularly Dr. Silas Stone) was the public benefactor of the Titan's and, more importantly, Titan's Tower.

"You just push this rune here, and it activates... like so," he said, and pressed one of the runes, which immediately lit up with a soft white glow. And the disk itself gave off a soft hum as the circular side, facing up, glowed white. An image coalesced above it, so very realistic that Starfire could've sworn it was real, though she knew it was not the case.

And not just any image either.

Robin and Starfire... dancing. It was an image from the prom dance they'd shared, the one from Kitten's High School. The 'Date with Destiny.' But it was not like the photo album, an image forever set in stone. As she watched, the two figures began to dance, in a slow circle, the center of the disk. Always with their eyes on one another, never stopping, never doing anything more than dance. The back of her mind realized the illusitron must have been on a perpetual loop. But she wasn't even thinking, she was just admiring her gift.

It was... the best gift she'd ever received.

Gently, she reached out and pushed the carved martian rune that Robin had, de-activating the illusitron and allowing it to become nothing more than a silvery disk once more. "Thank you," she whispered softly. Then, remembering herself, and not wanting to appear rude or impolite, she picked up her own gift and offered it to Robin.

Like her, he took his time, wanting to savor this moment and remember it in the future. The incident with Overload had shown him just how valuable his memories were. And he didn't intend to lose a single one ever again. Especially not one of Starfire and his friends.

Slowly, he opened up the package Starfire had presented to him and peered inside. A stern face peered up at his. A face only an inch high, sculptured out of some sort of strange material. Curious, Robin reached inside, brushing aside some protective fluff to keep the figure safe and pulled it out. It was some sort of alien (Tamaranian, likely) warrior not unlike an ancient Aztec figurine. A warrior dressed in ancient and ornate Tamaranian battle-robes and bearing a long-haired, dark-eyed look. It was intricately designed, so much so that Robin suspected it wasn't quite as old as the figure depicted therein. It would've taken lasers to make such precise cuts.

"Wow," he murmured in appreciation.

"You... you like it then?" asked Starfire.

"I do... who is it?" he asked, curious. He didn't know all that much about Tamaran's native history or culture (though he knew a heck of a lot more than Beastboy, Cyborg, and Raven put together). This could've been anyone, really.

"That is the likeness of Risholfor, from the Legend of Dariand'r," she replied with a bright smile. "One of my favorite stories. The figure is said to bring luck to warriors and heroes... I could think of no greater gift for you, Robin," she replied shyly.

She did not add that the image of Risholfor bore a rather striking image to someone she knew. Someone she'd met once, after a nearly disastrous Blorthog and having been swept into the future. Someone she was starting to see more and more of every day she was around Robin. And so she'd been truthful in saying she could not have thought of a better gift for Robin.

Risholfor bore a rather striking resemblance (barring the costume, of course) to Nightwing.

"Can you tell me about this Legend of Dariand'r?" he asked, managing not to stumble over the strange alien name. None of the other Titans had managed to catch the subtleties of the Tamaranian language, but Robin might've been a native. He didn't know many actual words (except a few curses Blackfire had taught him) but he got the nuances right, at least.

Starfire nodded at his request. "Dariand'r was a brave and valiant warrior and the leader of her tribe long, long ago. Her people where under attack by a great and terrible enemy and prayed for deliverance. She was given a vision by X'Hal centuries ago and undertook a quest to gain great power and save her people. Risholfor, whom she later married, was her second-in-command and the most valiant warrior ever to stand at her side. Risholfor and Dariand'r saved one another's lives more times than could be counted. They and their companions fought against the evil for many years and finally drove it from the land, bringing peace to Tamaran."

"That does sound quite epic," he replied with a smile. Reminded him of some early Earth myths, actually. "So this thing brings luck to warriors?" he asked, holding up the figurine with newfound respect.

She nodded. "It does, it works much like the foot of rabbit, or so I am told," she replied. "There were four other sorts of figurines too, one for each of the companions."

"Companions?" he asked.

"Oh yes! There was Dariand'r and Risholfor, of course... and Hallos'ar, the outcast who had lost his people and found solace in the wilds, and became a great master of beasts... and then there was Randl'ra, the mystic who interpreted Dariand'rs dreams and aided them with her prayers to X'hal... and the final was a great weapon smith who forged the great arms that allowed Dariand'r and Risholfor to conquer their enemies. Though history never recorded his name, they say he was lame in his left leg, and had crafted a replacement for it himself."

Robin smiled, holding the figure protectively close. "Thank you Starfire... I'll take good care of Risholfor here. I promise. I hope I can hear more about that Legend later... it sounds interesting."

"I could translate the Tamaranian text, I brought a copy with me after our last trip to Tamaran... since I might not be returning home again. Or, rather... because I am home."

"And we're glad to have you," he replied.

Their tender moment, was, fortunately, not interrupted, though it was not as private as the Boy Wonder and the Tamaranian Princess might've realized. Hiding in the shadows of the hallway, three pairs of eyes were watching the two lovebirds exchange their gifts. One was a wide pair of mischievous green eyes. The second, just above them, were half-closed with either boredom or weariness and were a lavender shade. The third, the highest above them both, were a mix-matched warm brown and cold red.

"They look like they're having fun," remarked Raven in her monotone but not uncaring voice.

"Let's not interrupt then," replied Cyborg.

"But what about -our- presents?" Beastboy whispered up at them both. And of course was immediately rewarded by two glaring pairs of eyes. He immediately shut up. In fact, he slipped away from them back down the corridor, morphing into a snake to aid his quiet movements. He had his own way of celebrating he wanted to take care of. Starfire and Robin were still making goo-goo eyes at one another when he returned about twenty minutes later, and Cyborg and Raven hadn't noticed Beastboy yet. Perfect. Carefully, he maneuvered himself into position, readying his most spectacular plan yet. One that was sure to make her smile.

"Ooooooh Raven," he sing-sang ever so cheerfully. "Look where're yoooou're standing....!"

Raven's eyes opened wide as she turned, already realizing exactly where she was standing... under a mistletoe... next to Beastboy. A mistletoe held in his hand, carefully held over her head. And there was no way she could react in time, no way she could obliterate the stupid little plant or knocked Beastboy away either physically or with her powers. She was helpless...!

But all he did was kiss her, really. Not even on the lips. He must've known she would've killed him if he'd kissed her on the lips. Instead his lips brushed feather-light against her cheek. She couldn't really kill him for just one harmless little peck, now, could she?

She -could- throttle him to within an inch of his life though.

"BEASTBOY!!!" she roared.

Starfire and Robin's heads both snapped up in an instant to watch the rather comical display of a green rabbit bounding into the living room and right past them, being pursued by an angry sorceress hurling black energy bolts after him. Which, for some peculiar reason, never seemed to hit. Beastboy always seemed to know the exact instant to jump as he bounded to the other side of the room, Raven in hot pursuit.

"It was worth it!" shouted Beastboy, briefly shifting into his humanoid form to proclaim his statement before reforming into a frog and continuing to bound about the room, dodging Raven's black energy bolts. He sprang out of the room, and Raven zoomed after him with fire in her eyes.

"Beastboy!" she roared after him, the call echoing throughout the Tower.

"Oh man," remarked Cyborg, coming into the room (no real point in hiding anymore, Starfire and Robin had both spotted him) and scratching his head. "BB sure has guts, I'll give 'im that..."

"Just how long have you three been there?" asked Robin. He folded his arms across his chest, trying to look menacing, but a happy grin had been perpetually glued onto his face since the events of last night. He failed utterly.

"Long enough, man... long enough."

"Well I suppose we should stop Raven before she decapitates Beastboy..." remarked Robin.

"Yeah... any volunteers?" asked Cyborg.

"Uh..."

Starfire's sudden laughter interrupted both of them, and they turned to see her standing by one of the windows, peering down at something neither of them could see. Curious, Cyborg and Robin joined her, peering down at the snow-covered Titan's island to a most peculiar display.

That is, if you happen to consider that Beastboy was shifting forms, gathering up snow, and hurling it at Raven in a bizarre manner of a snowball fight and Raven was, equally peculiar, playing along, hurling back great boulders of snow with her telekinetic powers. She still sounded very angry though, and her throws were a little rough to be just friendly play.

If you consider that peculiar.

"Huh... don't see that every day," remarked Cyborg. "But my main man's in trouble... 'scuse me," he said, reaching out and tapping a button on the side of the large window. Instantly it slid open, allowing a cool breeze to penetrate the room. Cyborg immediately leapt out and down alongside Beastboy, grabbing up a pile of snow and hurling it playfully at Raven, who knocked it aside with a black energy shield.

"Shall we join them?" asked Starfire, glancing over at Robin.

Robin dared a look over the edge of the window. It was rather a long way down, and he still hadn't recovered his utility belt from the previous evening. However, his problem was solved when Starfire offered him his hand.

"Sure," he said with a smile, taking her hand. She floated them both down into the snow, where he joined the boys and Starfire teamed up with Raven, and the Teen Titans had the snowball war to end all snowball wars. Not quite an Epic, but they sure had fun.

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It seemed like hours later that the Titans had finally managed to finish their war (the outcome was a mixed story, depending on who you asked) and headed back inside to get warm, drink hot chocolate, gather 'round the Christmas tree, and open presents.

Raven tore open her latest gift as the others watched her, the five Titans seated in a loose circle to see how the others liked or hated their presents, each amassing his or her own pile near where they sat. So far Raven had some meditation incense from Robin and a few hair ornaments from Starfire, and now was opening (with more than a little dread) Beastboy's present. She could only imagine what he'd got her. Something childish, something overly romantic, something downright creepy. Steeling herself, she made a final gesture, and the box was engulfed in a black aura briefly before it opened up, revealing its contents.

A scarf.

A simple red and green Christmas scarf covered in white snowflakes. Curious, she lifted it up out of the box, holding it out before her, then glanced curiously at Beastboy, raising an eyebrow. There had to be some sort of catch, knowing him.

"Uhm... thank you?" she inquired. Honestly, first hair ornaments then this? What was she, a Barbie doll?

"It's for winter, wouldn't want you to freeze your cape off," he said jokingly. Then, gesturing at the item in her hands encouragingly, he added "put it on."

"Perhaps later," Raven replied, placing it aside.

"Oh come on Raven, put it on... its Christmas tradition!" whined Beastboy, turning to the others for support.

"Oh yes friend Raven, do try it on, you would look so..." Starfire started to babble, but stopped by the next word. Raven did not enjoy being referred to as 'cute.' "... nice?"

"No," replied the gothic sorceress, levitating her next gift and sending it around the circle to its new owner. Her latest victim being Cyborg, who tore open the package and tossed things aside to eagerly see what lay within. Already at his side rested a video game (Robin) and a music CD (Beastboy) that he'd already acquired. His new gift, however, was rather curious, and he pulled it up out of the box to see what it was. A series of chains looped around one another. Heavy metal chains.

"Uh..."

"Snow tires," explained Raven. "For 'your baby'," she added with a smirk.

"Oh wow awesome... hadn't even thought about that. We could really use these for off-road with the T-Car."

"My thoughts exactly."

"Well alright," said Cyborg with a smile, placing the chains aside with the rest of his acquired gifts. Then he grabbed up an extra-big box, and placed it down on the ground beside Robin, who peered up at it in surprise. It was nearly bigger than he was sitting down, and that was quite a feat. "This is from both of us, Rob," said Cyborg, indicating himself and Raven. "Little personal project we worked on in November. Ya'll would be surprised just how gifted our little Rae is with technology."

"Oh really?" asked Robin, standing. Made it easier for him to unwrap his gift. And, very curious to what had been crafted by two so vastly different people, he tore it open quickly, opening it up to a large brown box. He opened that as well. Its contents surprised him, however, and his eyes widened behind his mask as he peered inside.

"A computer?"

"State-of-the-art," replied Cyborg with a grin. "Fastest connections, uploads like you wouldn't believe, big enough to hold every mp3 ever invented... anytime... anywhere..." he stated dramatically. Raven, by his side, gave a nod.

Robin whistled in appreciation. "Wow... where'd you get this?" he asked, carefully closing up the box. He could unpack it later in his room. After he tossed out his old crime computer, which was five years out of date and riddled with viruses.

"Didn't... we made it," stated Cyborg proudly.

"'We'" asked Beastboy, looking at Raven in surprise. Raven gave a knowing smirk.

"Told you little Rae was good with technology," remarked Cyborg.

Warm laughter accompanied that remark. No one could say why, nothing terribly funny had been said. But it was Christmas, when laughter flowed freely from the soul. Even Raven gave a quiet (a brief) little chuckle.

"So whose next in the barrel?" she asked sarcastically when the laughter had died down.

"There is a barrel?" asked Starfire, glancing around in some confusion.

"An expression," said Robin. "I'll explain later."

It turned out the next present was Beastboy's, and he eagerly accepted a gift from Starfire, who'd worked very hard in acquiring gifts for all of her friends that they would enjoy. And she'd gone along with Beastboy to the mall when he'd gotten a gift for Raven, so naturally she'd gotten something similar for him. An overly large and entirely tasteless Christmas sweater. Beastboy sweat-dropped as he held it up. Although he didn't say so aloud (no one did) it was _hideous_.

And of course Raven just had to have her revenge, and with a deliberate motion lifted up her scarf and wrapped it around her neck, giving Beastboy a wicked grin, knowing full well that if she was going to look silly then he would look ten times worse. But, with little fuss, he shoved his head into the ugly sweater and pulled it down over his upper body, the sleeves dangling over his arms. Starfire had apparently misjudged Beastboy's size. His next gift, a DVD from Robin (Wicked Scary III: Too Wicked for TV) managed to mollify the changeling a little. Besides, at least Raven was now wearing his gift. His final gift, from Raven, gave him a little pause however. 'Guide to Etiquette.' And all the Titans burst out laugh as Beastboy felt humiliated and angered by Raven's insulting gift...

... until...

... he noticed she'd included a bookmark with the gift. And when he opened up to the page it marked... the chapter title was "Courtship." Beastboy's eyes went wider than humanly possible, and he glanced down at the book and then up at Raven. Who was, as usual, completely expressionless. It was impossible to decipher her feelings or motives. The bookmark could've been left there by accident or by design... regardless, Beastboy couldn't have thought of a better gift, and he smiled as he tucked it away with the rest of his acquired goods.

Cyborg, in addition to the snowtires, CD and video game, got some fuzzy dice from Starfire, once again proving just how little taste she had in Earthly customs. Still, this one wasn't actually all that bad, and unlike Beastboy (who shoved his sweater into the deepest, darkest corner of his room and forgot all about it) he actually did hang up the fuzzy dice in the T-Car over the rear-view mirror.

The former Princess and former Empress of Tamaran counted herself truly blessed by the gifts she received. Though the one she treasured most was of course Robin's illusitron (and the image it contained), she was overjoyed for a copy of 'Meditation for Dummies' (Raven), a new collar for Silkie (Beastboy) and an extra-large pack of mustard. (Cyborg).

None of the Titans could have recalled a more joyous occasion in any of their pasts, and after the gift-giving they spent the entire day together, talking, laughing, enjoying the new games and presents they'd all received, enjoying one another's company in their home, enjoying the holiday.

And the two Titans enjoying one another's company the most were Starfire and Robin, of course. Always the best of friends ever since they'd met, they'd grown even closer after the events of Christmas Eve and now Christmas Day, and they were growing closer with each adventure and misadventure that life put them through. So it was that while Beastboy was busy hiding his sweater, Cyborg was fixing up his car, and Raven had left to meditate, the two of them found themselves outside the Tower in the snow, making snow angels. And that one simple moment seemed to stretch into an eternity, as neither wished it to end, they were completely content with each other's presence nearby and a beautiful Christmas morning.

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**Author's Notes:**

Illusitrons were mentioned in the Justice League episode 'In Blackest Night,' and were a last-minute change on my part, I'd initially planned to make it just a photo or a video of the dance. I claim no ownership of The Legend of Dariand'r, that is expressly the property of Happy-Raven from her story 'It's Relative.' I did, however, spice it up by adding Randl'ra the mystic, the unnamed weaponsmith, and making Hallos'ar into a beast-tamer. For obvious reasons. I hope everyone liked the gifts I had the Titans exchange, I hope they're as in-character as the Titan's themselves. Wicked Scary was the movie from 'Fear ITself' and Silkie was of course introduced in 'Can I Keep Him?' (as well as seen in a number of season three episodes). Well, that's it. Hope you all got good presents too and enjoyed the Human Holiday of X-Mas!

Clueless90: As you can see, one final chapter. This is it, however. Maybe next year I'll torment Raven and Beastboy. Or by then maybe I'll have a new show with new characters I can torment.

Todd fan: Glad it touched you. Poor Forge though. If you were gonna get a human shield should've used the Blob.

Ray1: You're assuming that Robin is Tim Drake, right? I don't think Batgirl and Nightwing ever met in B:TAS. I could be wrong, I never watched it as well as I'd like. And of course Starfire's happy she did it.

Jadedea: Thank you, glad you enjoyed it.

Tigress419: Well there are Raven's and Beastboy's gifts. What do you think? And also everyone else's. I admit some were tough to think of so I had to do generic stuff. I admit my surprise wasn't all that surprising to those who follow my stories, many saw it coming, but I'm glad you did too.

Katergator: I understand the super busyness with finals and all, got plenty of that myself. See why I wrote it all out in advance? Glad you enjoyed it and the warm fuzzy feelings.

Gecko Osco: There you go, quick as I could. Glad you're enjoying all the fluff.

ViciousAssassin: Ah, I was wondering when you'd be along. I admit I considered some alternate shockers to try and throw people off, one of them was Starfire pushing Robin but it never made it to print. Perhaps that is why. Other alternates include her slapping him and her kissing someone else to shock him jealously. As you can see, I went with the simple method. I'm glad you enjoyed the story so far and the most recent chapter.

Titansfan: I agree, though I tend to watch anyway and just work on my comp during scenes I don't like. Every episode has at least one good point in it. I'd considered ending it here too but I wanted to finish up the story properly for the X-Mas season.

Yomiori-Wolfdemon: Nononono you didn't listen, the link does not come through because reviews destroy the link. I can't put such links in my stories either, or e-mail addresses. But glad you're enjoying the story. And I have my own ways of finding cheap stupid amusement. The antics of Homestar and StrongBad are plenty for me.


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